JAKARTA - THE chief of a violent Islamic vigilante group has gone on trial with 12 others over an armed assault on Christian elders, a report said on Thursday, in a case that has raised fears for pluralism in Indonesia.
Murhali Barda, head of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) in the Jakarta suburb of Bekasi 'provoked the attack' against priest Luspida Simanjuntak and Christian elder Asia Sihombing, prosecutor Priorenta was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Globe newspaper.
The priest was beaten with a stick and the elder stabbed as they were on their way to a service in September in Bekasi, the report said.
In separate trials, Barda's 12 alleged accomplices face charges including committing violence against others, unpleasant conduct and provocation.
Eighty per cent of Indonesia's 240 million people are Muslims but the country's constitution guarantees freedom of religion. -- AFP
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