JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network): Indonesia’s Supreme Court has prohibited lower courts from granting any request to legalise interfaith marriage as a requirement for registration at the civil registry office, quashing hope that the state will allow and facilitate interfaith marriages.
The Supreme Court issues a new order for lower courts not to accept interfaith marriages. In a previous ruling in January, it rejected a petition from a Christian man to revise the existing marriage act so that he could marry his Muslim fiancée. For human rights groups, this is a step backwards in law.
An Islamic school in West Java faces potential closure over allegations of heresy and links to religious separatists, raising concerns about a crackdown on religious freedom that could further muddy a highly political year.