by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Police in North Sumatra Province, Indonesia, recently arrested two Christian men in separate incidents of alleged blasphemy against Islam, Morning Star News (MSN) reports. Although Christianity is constitutionally legal in Indonesia, the Muslim-majority country ranks 42 on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.
On October 17, police in Deli Serdang Regency, North Sumatra Province, arrested florist Rudi Simamora for commenting on social media that messages from the Islamic prophet Muhammad were of human rather than divine origin, MSN reports. Simamora’s comments caused hundreds of Muslims to stage an angry protest around his home.
When Simamora called for police, he was arrested and detained for more than an hour, MSN reports. Simamora’s arrest last week followed his recent release from prison, to which he was sentenced last year for allegedly Islam.
In a similar case, on September 3, police in North Sumatra Province arrested Muchtar Nababan for allegedly blaspheming Muhammad and Islam on his Facebook. Muchtar reportedly said Christians are protected from Islamic black magic. Police were called after Raju Firmanda, secretary of the National Committee of Indonesia Youth (Komite Nasional Pemuda Indonesia, or KNPI), Central Tapanuli Chapter, filed a case against him.
“The situation for Christians [in Indonesia] has been deteriorating in recent years, with Indonesian society increasingly influenced by conservative interpretations of Islam,” the Open Doors international Christian advocacy organization notes in a current website statement.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
Israel expanded its military campaign against Hezbollah on Monday, striking more than 70 targets across Lebanon as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to increase pressure on the Iranian-backed terror group following a sharp rise in drone and rocket attacks on northern Israel.
A federal appeals court is weighing whether Kansas City can use its public accommodation ordinance to require Christian counselors to counsel gay married couples despite the counselors’ biblical convictions on marriage and sexuality.
Tens of thousands of evangelical Christians gathered in the Netherlands for one of Europe’s largest multi-day Christian events, with organizers and participants expressing hopes for spiritual revival in the nation and across Europe.
President Donald Trump pushed back Monday against sharp criticism from Republicans and former administration officials over a potential U.S.-Iran agreement, insisting that any final accord must prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon or it will not be signed.
President Donald Trump said Monday that countries involved in negotiations over Iran should be required to join the Abraham Accords, signaling that the White House is seeking to turn a possible Iran agreement into a wider regional realignment that includes normalization with Israel.
Tensions remained high in Serbia’s capital Belgrade on Sunday after at least tens of thousands of people demanded elections and rallied against what they view as the increasingly authoritarian rule of President Aleksandar Vučić, with violence erupting after the protest and more than 20 people arrested.
Investigations were ongoing Sunday into the killing of three senior Kuki-Thadou Christian church leaders by unidentified gunmen in India’s northeastern Manipur State, Christian investigators told Worthy News.