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Bogor. Hitting back at the Bogor administration’s unexplained decision to again seal off their half-built church last week, members of the GKI Yasmin congregation broke the seal on the building after last Sunday’s services.

“Since we followed the legal procedures to obtain permission for our church to operate, and this has been enforced by rulings from the State Administrative Court, we decided to open the seal ourselves,” Jayadi Damanik, a member of the church’s legal team, said on Sunday.

“Another reason why we decided to break the seal ourselves was a statement from the Bogor Police chief that the first seal could be a considered criminal obstruction of a religious meeting or ceremony.”

The church had its building permit revoked by the Bogor administration in March this year after reported objections from nearby residents in the mainly Muslim neighborhood.

However, after legal challenges mounted at the State Administrative Court in both Jakarta and Bandung, the church was allowed to resume its activities.

The Bogor administration’s public order agency (Satpol PP) duly unsealed the church on Aug. 27, before sealing it off again a day later, reportedly because of more objections.

In the meantime, the congregation has been forced to hold services at a vacant lot across the road from where the church is being built.

First Insp. Surya, head of the crime unit at the Bogor Police, said the congregation’s complaints about the church site being sealed yet again had been forwarded to the local prosecutors’ office.

“The church filed a report with us about the obstruction by the Satpol PP against members of the congregation who wanted to pray there,” he said.

“The basis for their accusation is the finding from our own investigation.” Separately, Yayat Suyarna, village head of Curug Mekar, where the church is located, said he knew little about the case.

“My job is only to ensure that everyone here gets along,” he said. “As long as I get no complaints, there’s nothing wrong.”

Meanwhile, Eva Kusuma Sundari, a legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) who attended Sunday’s service, said she planned to hold a meeting with the Bogor administration to discuss the issue.

“I believe that the government must interpret and enforce all decisions by the law courts, and not cater to the whims of mass organizations,” she said.

Eva said a team comprising PDI-P legislators from commissions II, III and VIII at the House of Representatives, for domestic, legal and religious affairs, respectively, would look into the problem of religious intolerance.

Meanwhile, some neighbors said that they did not see why the church should not be allowed to operate in the area. Edi, 45, a Muslim and long-time resident of the area, said he had never been disturbed by the church’s presence or activities.

“I mind my own business, my own work, and I don’t mind the church,” he said. He added that he had heard some views from residents that the building of a church in the Muslim-majority area was insensitive.

“I know of some people who think this way, but why exactly they find the church troubling is beyond me,” he said. 

“We hope to expand this team to include the whole House.” Eva, from Commission XI overseeing health care, said she had gotten involved in the issue after receiving several complaints on the matter. 

Separately, Johny Nelson Simanjuntak from the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM), who previously led a probe into the rights violations linked to the church’s closure, told the Jakarta Globe that the commission’s requests to the Bogor administration for an explanation for the latest closure had gone unanswered.

“However, we’re still monitoring the developments, because our last visit to the Bogor Police was quite fruitful,” he said. 

Rosdiah, 65, said that while she knew little about the dispute, she pitied the congregation’s plight. “I’ve been living here since 1996, and I don’t know why it’s so hard for them to get a permit,” she said.