Indonesian man sentenced to prison for making athiest comments

[technolud]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/indonesian-man-sentenced-30-months-prison-making-athiest-222458260.html

Yikes!  Cheeze it.  Its the coppers.

Quote:

Given that the phenomenon of Facebook and social media are relatively new, it's somewhat excusable for courts of law to be unsure how to proceed with regard to matters involving human interaction on the site. That said, there are few supporting an Indonesian court's latest act: A 30-year-old man was sentenced to 30 months of prison and a $10,600 fine for posting pro-atheist and anti-Islam comments on Facebook.

Alexander Aan was charged with posting cartoons of the prophet Mohammed to an atheist Facebook group and for making statements including, "If God exists, then why do bad things happen?" The comments Aan made wound up inciting an angry mob to seek him out and severely beat him. Aan was arrested by police for his own protection.

Since then, Aan has been charged and convincted of "disseminating information aimed at inciting religious hatred or hostility." Amnesty International is calling for Aan's release, branding his conviction "a serious setback for freedom of expression in Indonesia, and [a violation of] Indonesia's obligations under international law."

[markmcdaniel]

This is one more good reason to watch what you write in any social media site.

[technolud]

Does this count as a "social media site"? 

We're all screwed. 

[Stevil]

I'm just relieved that god didn't set two she bears onto the chap, or turn him into a pillar of salt or kill his first born son, or command him to kill his first born (actually god only gets people he likes to do that one) or burn down his city of residence or flood the entire planet.

In comparison these people are much more loving than god 

[markmcdaniel]

Does this count as a "social media site"? 

We're all screwed. 

It probably does.

[technolud]

This is depressing.  Added to the Egyptian elections (or rather military power grab).  Not a good day.

Anyone have any insight into the Greek or French elections?  (Am I derailing my own post?)

[Tank]

This is depressing.  Added to the Egyptian elections (or rather military power grab).  Not a good day.

Anyone have any insight into the Greek or French elections?  (Am I derailing my own post?)

Greece is a moderately good response in the short term but in the long term I suspect it could possibly lead to a civil war. Before this result the Germans were seen as the bad guys giving common cause to the Greeks. Now however the Nationalists (anti-bailout) have an internal target of 'collaborators'. The pro-bailout tended to be the better off and the anti-bailout the poorer sections of society. The best we can hope for is that the notorious inability of the Greeks to organise will result in a lot of rhetoric and no violence.

The French do what the French do and bugger everybody else so as usual they can be ignored.  

Spain is the real problem 25% of under 25s don't have a job. That situation is unsustainable and provides a suitably charismatic leader with the right message a huge pool of resources to relight Francos fascistic/nationalistic ideals in a new generation.

Did you know the Germans have been caught out printing and stockpiling Deutschmarks in secret? So much for their commitment to the Euro!

ATM I'm so glad we kept the pound!!!

[technolud]

Often I feel so stupid.  Everything is right there, right in front of us.  Five, ten years from now its going to be so obvious, what is about to happen.  But I can't see it.  Europe, Middle East, China, India.

Are we about to enter the great GREAT depression, the new dark ages?  Or is the anti-capitalism backlash about to gain some traction and the AGE of LIGHT is upon us? 

Or most likely, more of the same??

[Sweetdeath]

... i really.. ugh *shakes head*
This poor man. T__T;;;


The whole "You don't agree with me, so i'll attack you" kind of thinking is truly insane...

[technolud]

This forwarded by my son, written by a friend of his living in Indonesia.

A lot of people frame Alexander Aan's story as one where the central
government turns a blind eye to the abuses of corrupt and parochial
regional governments. I say the problem is much more complicated than
that.

Politicans, both in the central government and in regional
administrations, pander to extremist groups (like the ones that wanted
Aan in jail) in order to get votes. This is no different than how the
Republican Party in the United States panders to the Tea Party and
right-wing organizations to gain access to power.

The fact that these extremist groups are militant makes them a much
more reliable voter base than the vast majority of voters, who are
(understandably) apathetic and apolitical.

If you want to get a picture of how apathetic/apolitical people are
about politics, look at the latest statistics. One recent survey shows
that 64 percent of the people in Jakarta don't even know the
identities of the six tickets running for Jakarta's gubernatorial
office in the upcoming July 11 elections. Roughly 58 percent don't
even know when the elections are going to take place.

If it's this bad in Jakarta, which is the center of political life in
Indonesia, then it's only naturally worse in the country's outer
regions, many of which lack even basic infrastructure such as roads
and bridges. I can't tell you how often I have to translate regional
news wires of fucked up infrastructure conditions in Indonesia's outer
regions.

Again, it's easy to draw parallels between Indonesia and the USA. You
know the statistics of apathy and apoliticism in the USA, so I'm not
going to bother repeating them to you. In fact, parallels could be
drawn with virtually any country with representative democracy, since
political detachment is a fundamental characteristic and effect of all
representative/parliamentary democracies.

Furthermore, what happens in regional administrations also happens in
the central government (as is the case with the United States). But
whereas regional leaders pander to extremist GROUPS, the central
government panders to extremist POLITICAL PARTIES.

The current Democratic Party-ruled government of President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono, for instance, is afraid of acknowledging and acting
on the complaints of liberal organizations who want the government to
condemn religious extremism. Why is this? Because the government is in
a coalition with right-wing religious political parties. It does this
to maintain power within the government.

You can find similar examples of this in Europe, where center-right
parties like that of former president Nicholas Sarkozy basically
ignored the centrists and center-leftists in 2012 and focused on
getting the vote of the far right, simply because Sarkozy knew that he
had a better chance at maintaining power if he worked with the
militant far right than with the timid liberals.

This is why having a stronger central government is not going to be of
any help. What both Indonesia and the United States needs is a more
empowered and educated citizenry. And that's not going to come from
the top. That has to come from below. How precisely that will happen,
I have no clue yet. This is why I'm biding my time, learning about the
complexities of Indonesian culture so that I can be part of that
bottom-up change that affects society.
"

[Recusant]

Thank you for sharing that note with us, technolud. It seems to me that your son's friend has explained this disheartening little interlude rather well, setting it firmly in the context of Indonesian politics.

[Firebird]

Thank you for sharing that. Very illuminating.
Comparisons between the US Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street groups come to mind. I read a story once (NY Times perhaps) where a survey showed that conservatives, including Tea Party members, were much more respectful of authority and hierarchy than liberals and Democrats. This could certainly explain why the Tea Party, which is much more organized and focused, has been more successful in the political sphere than Occupy Wall Street, which insisted on remaining leaderless and thus has gone out with a whimper after much hype. How many political candidates do you see running who tout their Occupy Wall Street support? Even Elizabeth Warren does not do that, and she's a symbol of exactly the kind of person they should be supporting and canvassing for. Instead, they're too busy talking amongst themselves about what to do next.

[technolud]

Yes, trying to lead a bunch of liberals is much like herding cats.

[Icarus]

Perhaps we should not be the kettle that calls the pot black. Apathy is, sad to say, one of our own national characteristics.

Indonesia/Malaysia (excluding Singapore) is largely uneducated and economicly behind the curve. They at least have an excuse.

Three days after the landmark Supreme Court healthcare decision, one of the polling outfits did their thing. Reportedly, 41% of our illustrious citizenry was unaware that the courts decision had been handed down.

I fear that some of the folks in our collective neighborhoods do not know the name of the city where the leaning tower of Pisa is located, nor how many wheels are on a tricycle.