“Damis said that Moses’ conviction stems from his intentional act of spreading information to incite religious hatred against an individual, group or society.”
Moses expressed an opinion about the Qur’an and Muhammad. It was, of course, not a favorable opinion. That is all he did to “incite religious hatred.” Note that this language is the same as what we are increasingly hearing in the West: that criticism of Islam and jihad constitutes “hate speech,” and accordingly must be forcibly silenced. What has happened to Abraham Ben Moses is the West’s future, unless there is some large-scale recovery of appreciation for the freedom of speech.
“Indonesia sentences pastor to four years in prison over remarks about Quran during evangelism attempt,” by Jardine Malado, Christian Today, May 12, 2018 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
An Indonesian pastor has been sentenced to four years in prison after being convicted of religious defamation over remarks he allegedly made about the Quran when he shared the Gospel with a Muslim taxi driver.
Rev. Abraham Ben Moses, 52, was arrested at his home in Tangerang, Banten province in December last year after he was accused of blasphemy for quoting the Quran during his conversation with a taxi driver.
According to UCA News, a video of the conversation that was posted online showed Moses citing Quranic verses on marriage and telling the driver that the Islamic Prophet Muhammad was inconsistent with his own teachings.
On Monday, the Tangerang District Court in Banten sentenced Moses to four years’ imprisonment and ordered him to pay the fine of Rp 50 million (US$3,565) or spend an additional month in jail.
“We sentenced the defendant to four years in prison and ordered him to remain in custody,” presiding judge Muhammad Damis said, according to The Jakarta Post, citing tempo.co.
Damis said that Moses’ conviction stems from his intentional act of spreading information to incite religious hatred against an individual, group or society. The judge stressed that his sentence was lighter than the five-year prison term demanded by the prosecutors….