Aan was arrested in a small town in West Sumatra on January 18 after a number of local residents assaulted him at work in an act of self-styled vigilantism. They were reacting to some of his postings on a Facebook page devoted to atheism: a note entitled “the Prophet Muhammad was attracted to his own daughter-in-law”; a comic suggesting the Prophet slept with his wife’s maid; and a status update reading, “If you believe in god, then please show him to me.”
Prosecutors have charged Aan under the Electronic Information and Transaction Law, which prohibits inciting hatred or enmity of a religious group, and under the country’s blasphemy provision, Article 156a, which criminalizes “hostility, hatred or contempt” and “disgracing” of a religion. Article 156a also prohibits attempts to persuade others to leave their religion and embrace atheism.
The United States called Russia's action in Syria "barbarism" while Moscow's UN envoy said ending the...
President Barack Obama's administration plans to increase the number of worldwide refugees accepted into the United...
Child and adult refugees held on Nauru under Australia’s offshore detention regime are continuing to report...
On one level, an incendiary video posted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the weekend...
