Islam, Blasphemy, and Human Rights in Indonesia

Using the high-profile 2017 blasphemy trial of the former governor of Jakarta, Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, as its sole case study, this book assesses whether Indonesias liberal democratic human rights legal regime can withstand the rise of growing Islamist majoritarian sentiment. Specifically, this book analyses whether a 2010 decision of Indonesias Constitutional Court has rendered the liberal democratic human rights guarantees contained in Indonesias 1945 Constitution ineffective. Key legal documents, including the indictment issued by the North Jakarta Attorney-General and General Prosecutor, the defences Notice of Defence, and the North Jakarta State Courts convicting judgment, are examined. The book shows how Islamist majoritarians in Indonesia have hijacked human rights discourse by attributing new, inaccurate meanings to key liberal democratic concepts. This has provided them with a human rights law-based justification for the prioritisation of the religious sensibilities and religious orthodoxy of Indonesias Muslim majority over the fundamental rights of the countrys religious minorities. While Ahoks conviction evidences this, the book cautions that matters pertaining to public religion will remain a site of contestation in contemporary Indonesia for the foreseeable future. A groundbreaking study of the Ahok trial, the blasphemy law, and the contentious politics of religious freedom and cultural citizenship in Indonesia, this book will be of interest to academics working in the fields of religion, Islamic studies, religious studies, law and society, law and development, law reform, constitutionalism, politics, history and social change, and Southeast Asian studies.