03/21/2024 Indonesia (International Christian Concern) – Apollinaris Darmawan is an elderly Christian man who has been imprisoned in Indonesia since 2020. In August 2020, Darmawan was arrested by local police after being accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad and Islam on social media. Darmawan allegedly made comments on Twitter, writing on his profile page that “Islam is not a religion, but a heretical teaching that silences and uncivilizes its people.”
The Muslim-turned-Catholic man also used other channels, such as YouTube, to post a video critical of Islam’s teachings and has written a book titled Six Ways Toward God, in which he encourages readers to search for the truth.
Local Muslims were angered by his comments and stormed Darmawan’s home on August 8, 2020, dragging him into the street and stripping him before the police came and took him into custody at the Badung Police Precinct.
A few months later, the Bandung District Court sentenced Darmawan to five years in prison and gave him a fine of 800 million rupiahs ($51,590 USD) for “disseminating information aimed at inflicting hatred or dissension on individuals and/or certain groups of community-based on ethnic groups, religions, races, and inter-groups.
Darmawan remains in prison today. Please pray for his well-being and for continued strength for his family.
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