JAKARTA: Indonesia’s Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by a woman sentenced to 18 months in jail under the country’s controversial blasphemy law for complaining about the volume of a mosque’s call to prayer.
Meiliana, 44, an ethnic Chinese Buddhist, was found guilty of insulting Islam for asking her neighbourhood mosque in Medan, on Sumatra island, to lower its sound system because it was too loud and “hurt” her ears.
In a decision posted to its website on Monday, the Supreme Court said that it had rejected her appeal, but did not elaborate further.
Indonesia, which has the world’s biggest Muslim population, is officially pluralist with six major religions recognised, including Hinduism, Christianity and Buddhism.
Meiliana’s comments more than two years ago triggered riots that saw angry Muslim mobs ransack Buddhist temples.
Some ethnic Chinese in the area fled in fear.
