CHURCH BUILDING IN BOGOR RE-OPENS – FOR A DAY ***

INDONESIA
September 8 MPBS24/7 REPORT FRom CDN – The Bogor city government in West Java re-sealed the Gereja Kristen Indonesia (GKI) Yasmin Church on Aug. 28, one day after security police had removed the seal and lock. Under cover of darkness, Bogor security police were ordered to secretly re-seal the church building at 11 p.m. the night before it was to be used for worship services. Jayadi Damanik, a member of the GKI Yasmin legal team, said security police had removed the lock and seal after church talks with the district officer, the Bogor police chief, the head of the security police and citizens who live near the church. In those talks all parties agreed that there was no reason to question the construction and presence of the GKI Yasmin Church, he said. The district officer and the Bogor police chief told church leaders that the original sealing of the church on April 11 was the unwarranted result of political pressure, he said. But on Aug. 28 at about 4 a.m., unknown persons locked the gate of the GKI Yasmin fence and placed a banner on it that read, “Because this building is continuing to be processed under the law, it cannot be used.” At 11 a.m. that day, the church took off the lock and removed the banner, but late that night security police resealed it with a new notice. Besides sealing the building under cover of darkness, Damanik said, there was no formal notice and no church witnesses. “Why did they do this at night, like thieves?” Damanik said. “Because of this, we do not accept the seal as legal.”