The Human Cost of Indonesia’s Blasphemy Law

Last month, I visited Meliana, an Indonesian woman jailed for blasphemy, in a prison in Medan, North Sumatra. The security was tight. No mobile phones. No pens. No money. We could only bring some cakes. I went there with Musdah Mulia, a prominent female Muslim scholar, who challenged the Blasphemy Law (Law 1/PNPS/1965) at Indonesia’s Constitutional Court in 2009-2010, but lost. Mulia gently hugged Meliana, telling her she did nothing wrong and should not be in prison. Meliana sobbed. Meliana shares a cell of about 30 square metres with about 15 women. It’s crowded. There is enough room to sleep…

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