Rights group International Christian Concern (ICC) reported this week that a group of Christians in Indonesia was prohibited from celebrating Christmas.
The report said that the regent of Lebak Regency, located just south of Jakarta, banned Christians from gathering at a local shop for Christmas services.
Iti Octavia Jayabaya, who has served as regent in Lebak since 2014, decreed that the shop should not be used as a location for worship because it had not been officially designated as such by the government.
The order was issued to appease the surrounding majority Muslim community, said the ICC report.
The Christians were reportedly told to have their Christmas services at an officially recognized church in the neighboring district of Rangkasbitung, which is 20 kilometers away.
ICC has previously reported on instances when Christian churches could not get a building permit from Indonesian authorities. In March 2019, authorities rejected a permit to construct a church in the same area as the shop.
The SETARA Institute for Democracy and Peace, an Indonesia-based human rights NGO, released a statement on the regent’s actions, saying that the decision to ban Christians from worshipping in the shop showed contempt for minority groups.
