TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - North Sumatra`s Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) maintained that the judge`s verdict in Meiliana blasphemy case should be free of intervention and that the judge should be fair and base the verdict on existing legal facts presented in court.
“We do not want this case dragged into being tendentious, filled with SARA (ethnicity, religion, and race) issues, and intervened by certain groups of people,” said North Sumatra’s Kontras Coordinator Amin Multazam Lubis to Tempo yesterday, August 23.
Kontras deemed the case involving Meiliana tragic since the mother of four is supposed to be considered as the victim in the incident that happened on July 29, 2016, where her house was destroyed added with the intimidation she received, and many elements that actually violated her rights as a human being.
Read: Chronology of Tanjung Balai Blasphemy Case against Meiliana
Certain groups that were offended by Meiliana should take matters to the police, but what Meiliana went through must be seen as a legal violation of her rights.
The Medan District Court in North Sumatra found Meiliana guilty and was proven to have conducted blasphemy against a religion. The incident took place at Jl. Karya Lingkungan I in the Tanjung Balai Kota I sub-district which eventually sparked a widespread riot.
It all happened after Meiliana protested against the volume of the adhan sound coming from the Al Maksun Mosque that is located exactly across her house.
Read: 7 Worship Houses in Tanjung Balai Burned due to Misunderstanding
Meiliana and mosque managements (BKM) argued before the riot spread across the Kota Tanjung Balai area, where several temples were vandalized.
As for the verdict handed to Meiliana, her attorney Ranto Sibarani has already stated his objection and will file an appeal against the court ruling. “We strongly appeal. How would her actions be considered a legal violation with no pieces of evidence,” said the lawyer.
LIL ASKAR MONZA
