JAKARTA, Indonesia — A rights group says the Indonesian woman imprisoned for blasphemy after complaining about noise from a mosque is sharing a cramped cell with 16 other women and given “terrible” food. Human Rights Watch researcher Andreas Harsono said the ethnic Chinese woman, Meiliana, was emotional but tough when he and other supporters visited her in prison in Medan this week. The case has highlighted how Indonesia’s blasphemy law has become a tool for Islamic hardliners to persecute followers of minority religions. She was charged in May, nearly two years after her comments sparked riots in Tanjung Balai, a Sumatran port town. Pressure from Islamists made the police hand over the case to the blasphemy law office.”Since 147 people have been imprisoned under blasphemy or related laws since 2004, according to monitoring by Human Rights Watch.

Source: National Post September 27, 2018 05:23 UTC