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Indonesian Sunday School Teachers Sentenced to Three Years in Prison
http://www.newsmax.com/images/email/9-13-05 VOM Women.jpgIndonesian judges sentenced three women on September 1st to three years in prison for allowing Muslim children to attend a Christian Sunday School program, “Happy Sunday”. Rebekka Zakaria, Eti Pangesti and Ratna Bangun received the sentence after judges found them guilty of attempting to convert children under the Child Protection Act of 2002. The Sunday school teachers had instructed the children to get permission from their parents before attending the program, and those who did not have permission were asked to go home, according to Jeff Hammond of Bless Indonesia Today. The three women were relieved that they had not been given the maximum five-year prison sentence and plan to appeal the conviction but were devastated at the prospect of being separated from their children.
As they have done throughout the trial, Islamic extremists made murderous threats both inside and outside the courtroom. Hammond said several truckloads of extremists arrived; one brought a coffin to bury the accused if they were found innocent. “The ladies, witnesses and judges were constantly under the threats of violence from hundreds of Islamic radicals who threatened to kill the three ladies, witnesses, pastors, missionaries and even the judges if the women were acquitted,” Hammond said.
Since the first accusations were made, Muslim authorities in West Java have forced Zakaria’s church to close. Muslim leaders have forced at least 60 unlicensed churches in West Java to shut down over the past year, with minimal intervention from the government.
http://www.newsmax.com/images/email/9-13-05 VOM Women.jpgIndonesian judges sentenced three women on September 1st to three years in prison for allowing Muslim children to attend a Christian Sunday School program, “Happy Sunday”. Rebekka Zakaria, Eti Pangesti and Ratna Bangun received the sentence after judges found them guilty of attempting to convert children under the Child Protection Act of 2002. The Sunday school teachers had instructed the children to get permission from their parents before attending the program, and those who did not have permission were asked to go home, according to Jeff Hammond of Bless Indonesia Today. The three women were relieved that they had not been given the maximum five-year prison sentence and plan to appeal the conviction but were devastated at the prospect of being separated from their children.
As they have done throughout the trial, Islamic extremists made murderous threats both inside and outside the courtroom. Hammond said several truckloads of extremists arrived; one brought a coffin to bury the accused if they were found innocent. “The ladies, witnesses and judges were constantly under the threats of violence from hundreds of Islamic radicals who threatened to kill the three ladies, witnesses, pastors, missionaries and even the judges if the women were acquitted,” Hammond said.
Since the first accusations were made, Muslim authorities in West Java have forced Zakaria’s church to close. Muslim leaders have forced at least 60 unlicensed churches in West Java to shut down over the past year, with minimal intervention from the government.
