Comments on: Fostering Intolerance: Indonesian Laws Fuel Violence against Religious Minorities http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/2011/08/17/fostering-intolerance-indonesian-laws-fuel-violence-against-religious-minorities/ Human Rights First builds respect for human rights and the rule of law to help ensure the dignity to which everyone is entitled and to stem intolerance, tyranny, and violence. Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:20:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Ahmed Qerni http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/2011/08/17/fostering-intolerance-indonesian-laws-fuel-violence-against-religious-minorities/#comment-78912 Ahmed Qerni Mon, 02 Jan 2012 13:22:20 +0000 http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/?p=13947#comment-78912 It was a tragic riot situation that could have been avoided had the Ahmadiyya obeyed the police request the previous night to not confront the rioters. It is a remote rural area with only a few police people. The Ahmadi who was sentenced was the 'security chief' of the Ahmadiyya who had arrived from Jakarta after a few hours drive -- in violation of police requests -- and so did the cameraman, who stood by filming the whole episode. The loss of life is deplorable and the sentences may have been light, but this is entirely the right message to send: obey the police who are outnumbered and who want to prevent a riot situation. In this case, the Ahmadiyya exacerbated an unfortunate situation, and their 'security head' was sent in from Jakarta despite police advise to the contrary. It was a tragic riot situation that could have been avoided had the Ahmadiyya obeyed the police request the previous night to not confront the rioters. It is a remote rural area with only a few police people. The Ahmadi who was sentenced was the ‘security chief’ of the Ahmadiyya who had arrived from Jakarta after a few hours drive — in violation of police requests — and so did the cameraman, who stood by filming the whole episode.

The loss of life is deplorable and the sentences may have been light, but this is entirely the right message to send: obey the police who are outnumbered and who want to prevent a riot situation. In this case, the Ahmadiyya exacerbated an unfortunate situation, and their ‘security head’ was sent in from Jakarta despite police advise to the contrary.

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