TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Setara Institute Peace and Democracy deputy Bonar Tigor Naipospos on TMonday pointed out the differences in the punishments meted out by the state against corruptors and those standing up for their personal religious preferences. "Toward corruptors and other white-collar criminals, the punishment is very light," said Bonar on June 11, 2012. Bonar made this statement with reference to charges against Alexander Aan. Aan was a civil-servant candidate from Jorong Sungai Kambut in West Sumatera. He had publicly claimed to be an atheist through Facebook, and subsequently faced criminal charges. First, Aan was charged with spreading information to arouse hate and hostility based on religion, race and inter-religious groups. The charges refer to Article 28 section 2 in conjunction with Article 45 section 2 of Law No. 11 Year 2008 concerning Electronic Information and Transactions. Second, Aan was charged with denigration of a certain religion. The second charge was made with reference to Article 156a letter a of the Penal Code (KUHP). In the third charge, Aan was considered to intentionally commit a deed intended to influence people not to embrace any religion whatsoever. The third charge referred to Article 156a letter b of KUHP It first happened when Aan typed the sentence God doesn't Exist in his Facebook account. Then in his place of work, Dharmasraya Regional Development Board (Bappeda) office, Aan was seen accessing the Minang Atheist Group on Facebook. Aan was charged with being an administrator of the group. The Aan case started in January 18, 2012. According to Bonar, Article 156 of KUHP is derived from the Law on Religious Blasphemy. "But Article 156a letter a of KUHP was inserted during the New Order regime," said Bonar. This article, said Bonar, stipulates that a maximum five-year sentence shall be passed on a person who deliberately in public expresses sentiments or commits a deed in the nature of enmity, abuse or blasphemy of a religion in Indonesia. Bonar stated that Setara Institute held the view that the issue raised by Aan did not involve atheism, rather freedoms of expression which was being restricted. Setara Institute Chairman Hendardi said that criminalization against Aan case should be stopped. "This is like [the tip of] an iceberg. It might happen again," said Hendardi. MARIA YUNIAR