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Sheikh Puji Acquitted of Child Abuse Charges After Marrying 12-Year-Old
October 14, 2009

Sheikh Puji (Photo: AFP) Sheikh Puji (Photo: AFP)
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Valkyrie
5:40pm Oct 13, 2009

It must have been a "high price" to pay for him to go "through" this indictment, no?

peterR
5:39pm Oct 13, 2009

Wait! What is that smell? Oh yes, I know it well: it’s the stench of hypocrisy.

It was well known that if you are well healed, getting away with murder is quite possible in Indonesia. Now it would appear that pedophilia can be added to the list.

A sad, sad day for this country and all of its decent citizens.


didikarjadi
5:09pm Oct 13, 2009

To read this makes me feel sick to my stomach. It makes me ashamed of this country and the cesspool it has become. There can be nobody who has been involved in this sorry outcome that can ever feel cleansed of the guilt they carry by helping disqualify this man’s acts, whether intended or not. It is disgusting. It is vile. Let us hear now the condemnation from all of the so called religious leaders, who are so vocal on other moral issues of minor importance. How do we look across the globe when people read stories about Indonesia allowing the stoning of people to death for relatively minor sexual indiscretions, or demonstrating in the streets about a visiting porn star, but seemingly endorsing pedophilia? How can anybody feel any pride in this country? What on earth is happening?

Jeanne Hachette
4:14pm Oct 13, 2009

Shame to the justice system in Indonesia. If you are a pedophile and a religious leader, for sure you are safe in this country. Where is the fatwa against this guy behaviour? What are the religious leaders of this country doing to protect our children.? Maybe too busy condemning facebook, burning female underwear and giving pusing to Miss Indonesia?

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Pujiono Cahyo Widianto or Sheikh Puji, a Central Java religious figure indicted of marrying a 12-year-old girl named Maria Ulfa, was acquitted in a preliminary verdict on Tuesday.

The trial took place at Ungaran State Court in Semarang, Central Java. The panel of judges, led by Hari Mulyanto, said the indictment against Shiekh Puji was dropped and the defendant must be released from custody as soon as possible.

The judges ruled that parts of the indictment against the Shiekh were not detailed and complete enough.

“The indictment about sexual contact is dropped because we [the judges] consider it to be less than complete, less than clear and less than detailed,” the judge said.

The panel of judges also said that the indictment did not explicitly mention when, where and how the defendant had sexual contact with his child wife. The indictment also neglected to mention the number of times sexual contact took place.

“The prosecutor should have explained in detail what he did it and where, specifically,” said the judge.

The trial was crowded with Puji’s supporters, including students from the Islamic school he founded and his employees. Also present were supporters of women and children protection organizations.

Pujiantocahyo Widianto was indicted of violating at least two articles of Child Protection Law, including “persuading a child to have sex and/or taking advantage of a person’s economic condition for his own benefit.”

Antara