Human Rights Group Urges Release of Indonesian Christian Women
CFI: Sunday School Teachers Innocent of Coercing Muslim Conversions

"Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest ...." (2 Corinthians 4: 9-11)

By Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
December 2, 2005

(AgapePress) - The president of an interdenominational human rights group that advocates for religious freedom says the justice system in Indonesia is a disgrace. For an example, he points to the recent arrest and conviction of three female Sunday school teachers charged with "attempting to coerce children to change their religion."

Convicted under Indonesia's "Child Protection Act," the women -- Dr. Rebekka Zakaria, Eti Pangesti and Ratna Bangun -- were each sentenced to three years in prison and are currently serving their sentences in the Indramayu district of West Java. But officials with Christian Freedom International (CFI), a group advocating for the release of the prisoners, are saying they were wrongly convicted and should go free. Nevertheless, according to CFI president Jim Jacobsen, the three Sunday school teachers recently lost an important appeal. The rest