Police Demolish Church House in Indonesia

WEST JAVA, INDONESIA (ANS) — Compass Direct News (CDN) is reporting that Public Order personnel supported Bogor police officers as they demolished a house where a church regularly met in a village in Bogor Regency, West Java, Indonesia, on Monday (July 19, 2010).

CDN said that clashes broke out with church members and others as police tore down the Narogong Pentecostal Church building in Limusnunggal village, Cileungsi sub-district, and officers arrested 10 people.

“Those arrested were questioned and released,” said the CDN story. “Some officers and a civilian were reportedly injured. Local residents, including non-Christians, had accepted the presence of the church, said local Block Captain Junaedi Syamsudin, but a group called the Forum of the Muslim Brotherhood of Limusnanggal has worked since 2008 to have the church eliminated.

“Three months ago members of the forum went to Cileungsi offices to object to the church’s presence, Syamsudin said, and the regent promised to demolish the house.”

The story went on to state that Eddy Hidayat, head of Bogor police operations, said the house “lacked a use permit.”

The building coordinator for the Pentecostal church, Hotlan P. Silaen, said police were not neutral in the dispute.

“The clash with citizens could have been avoided if the police had been neutral and not been goaded into a situation that caused bodily harm,” Silaen said.