Hundreds of Islamic hard-liners have stormed a court and set two churches on fire in Indonesia to protest against what they said was a lenient sentence for a Christian convicted of blaspheming Islam.
Jakarta resident Antonius Richmond Bawengan, 58, was found guilty of distributing books and leaflets that “spread hatred about Islam” and sentenced to the maximum five years in prison.
Islamic hard-liners shouted during the rioting that the man should have received the death penalty.
Anti-riot police fired into the air to disperse the crowd.
The violence started in front of the District Court in Temanggung where the trial was held and spread to surrounding areas.
Witnesses said at least nine people were taken to hospital with injuries and police led away some protesters for questioning.
The mob set two churches on fire and threw rocks at a third and a school .
They also torched a police truck, three cars and six motorcycles before calm was restored about four hours later.
Indonesia’s constitutional court upheld the blasphemy law last year, ruling that it did not limit religious freedom and was vital to religious harmony in the secular nation.
Activists have argued that the law discriminates against believers outside the mainstream of six officially recognised faiths and claim it is mainly used to defend Islam, the dominant religion of Indonesia’s 235 million people.
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