Muslims Sentenced for Beheading Christian Girls

School girl martyred on October 29, 2005

An Indonesia court handed down sentences of 10 to 19 years to six Muslims for a series of attacks in Central Sulawesi in 2005 and 2006. Abdul Muis bin Kamarudin (22) was sentenced to 19 years for his involvement in a 2005 bomb attack on a market selling pork in Palau in which eight people were killed and an October 2006 drive-by shooting of Rev. Irianto Kongkoli. Rahman Kalahe (21) was sentenced to 19 years for beheading three Christian school girls. Sentenced to 10 years and three months for the beheading was Yudi Heryanto (20) and a 14 year sentence was given to Agus Nur Muhammad (26). Kalale and Heryanto were also found guilty of the non-fatal shooting of two other Christian schoolgirls in the same town the following month. Three others were sentenced in March for the beheading attack with two receiving 14 years in prison and one 20 years (click here for more details).

In another case, Syaiful Anam, known as Brekele (26) was found guilty of and sentenced to 18 years for organizing the bombing of a marketplace in the predominantly Christian town of Tentena, also in Poso, in May 2005. Amril Niode, 22, was also jailed 15 years for his involvement in the Tentena attack. Speaking after his trial, Anam told journalists they had no regrets over their attacks, "because this is a consequence of my jihad." He added that he thought 18 years was too heavy a sentence for his crime. "From my perspective, it's too heavy because those I killed were infidels. I should not have been punished," he said.

Pray that those responsible for these acts will experience the love and grace of Christ. Pray for the safety of Indonesia's Christians in the coming month, as violence against them often escalates during the Christmas season.

For more information on the persecution of Christians in Indonesia, go to the Indonesia Country Report.