Petition the US government to free Alexander Aan

CFI has held two rallies now to raise awareness about Alexander Aan, an Indonesian civil servant who was beaten by a crowd then convicted of spreading religious hatred because he denied the existence of God and posted a cartoon of Mohammed on Facebook. He is presently serving a 30-month jail sentence for his high crimes. To add insult to injury, he has to pay one hundred million rupiah — a high fine in Indonesia for mere blasphemy, though it translates to about $10,000 USD.

There’s now a petition on the US We the People website asking the Obama administration to call for Aan’s release.

we petition the obama administration to:
Call upon the Indonesian government to respect the freedom and dignity of all its citizens and to free Alexander Aan.

Earlier this year, Indonesian civil servant Alexander Aan posted on Facebook that he doubted the existence of God. He was then attacked and beaten by an angry mob, and arrested for blasphemy.

On June 14, Aan was convicted of “disseminating information aimed at inciting religious hatred or hostility,” sentenced to 30 months in prison, and saddled with a large fine. Now many Indonesians are calling for his death.

By punishing Aan, Indonesia is violating its obligations to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees every person the rights to freedom of belief and expression. We petition the Obama administration to call upon the Indonesian government to immediately release Alexander Aan and improve its protections for religious dissidents and nonbelievers.

It needs 20,674 more signatures before August 16, 2012. Apparently, non-US citizens can sign. Get in there.

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Petition the US government to free Alexander Aan
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One thought on “Petition the US government to free Alexander Aan

  1. 1

    In this day and age a Spanish Inquisition is undoubtedly inappropriate. The US government should take a firm stance on this issue and encourage Indonesia to update its archaic laws denying free speech.

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