Christian church forcibly closed in Indonesian town

Mar 26, 2006, 13:52 GMT

Jakarta - A Pentecostal Christian church in Indonesian town of Bogor was forcibly closed by residents while hundreds of people were holding services inside, local news report on Sunday.

Residents demanded that the church to be closed because it stood in a non-Christian community.

The incident marks a fresh sectarian clash after the Indonesian government issued a new decree about places of worship last week, which was signed by Religious Affairs Minister M Maftuh Basyuni and Home Minister M Ma'ruf.

The new decree rules that new places of worship must have congregations of a minimum of 90 people, and receive consent of 60 people of other faiths living in the area. There also is a requirement to obtain permits from the local administration and the Communication Forum for Religious Harmony.

The former decree was controversial in that it required the consent of local administrations and a large number of residents in the areas to build houses of worship.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last year ordered an investigation into reports that hardline Moslem groups were forcing Christian churches to close.

The investigation was ordered after the leader of an umbrella church group complained to the president that 23 churches in Bandung, about 200 kilometres west of Jakarta, were forcibly shuttered, sometimes through acts of vandalism and intimidation.

Churches in Indonesia are sometimes forced to closed for lack of permits and are accused of setting up in residential areas to convert local residents.

Concern over increasing conversions surfaced last year at a congress of Indonesia's top clerical body, the Indonesian Ulema Council, which called for strong measures to prevent Moslems from converting to other religions.

Proselytizing is illegal in Indonesia, the 220-million population of which is 90 per cent Muslim.