indonesias crackdown on new religious movements has alarmed rights groups creditadek berryagence francepresse getty imagesmarch 9 2017jakarta indonesia back in his days as a badminton coach with the indonesian national team ahmad mushaddeq traveled the world on the states dime but after he became the spiritual leader of a backtotheland organic farming movement on the island of borneo regarded by his followers as the messiah who succeeded muhammad the government locked him up for the second time on charges of blasphemythis week an indonesian court sentenced him to a fiveyear prison term and gave two other leading figures of milah abraham the religious sect he established prison terms as well the sentences delivered on tuesday were the latest in a continuing crackdown on new religious movements across indonesia that has alarmed human rights groupsthe verdict is another indicator of rising discrimination against religious minorities in indonesia said andreas harsono the indonesia representative for human rights watch he called for a review of state institutions that facilitate such discrimination including the blasphemy law officeindonesias blasphemy laws have become a focus of debate ever since basuki tjahaja purnama the hardcharging christian governor of jakarta was indicted on charges of insulting the quran in november while his case has drawn the most attention a significant portion of the more than 106 people convicted on blasphemy charges since 2004 are not christians or even unorthodox muslims but selfproclaimed prophets and their apostlesindonesia a muslimmajority nation has a broken system of pluralism said al makin a professor at sunan kalijaga state islamic university in yogyakarta who testified as an expert witness on behalf of milah abraham at the three mens trial if the government keeps this policy of arresting people who are different from the mainstream it means the government denies pluralismmilah abraham also known as gafatar is by far the largest religious movement to have emerged in indonesia over the past few decades claiming over 50000 members around the archipelago more than 25 members have been convicted on blasphemy charges over the last decade including 11 who spent time in prisonduring that time numerous other selfproclaimed messiahs have also languished in prison including lia aminuddin the founder of a sect who claimed that she was the wife of the archangel gabriel and agus noro who claimed to be a reincarnation of sukarno indonesias first presidentthough the indonesian constitution ostensibly guarantees freedom of religion that freedom does not extend to new religious movements the state authorizes just six official religions islam protestantism catholicism buddhism hinduism and confucianism establishing a new faith is virtually impossible sects like milah abraham are criticized by muslim councils and targeted by the police for promoting heresiesfreedom is guaranteed in indonesia but violations of the law are not allowed boy rafli amar a police spokesman said via the whatsapp messaging service writing that milah abrahams teachings contradicted those of indonesias established religionsprofessor makin said new religious movements had faced increasing persecution since indonesia began transitioning to democracy in 1998during the reform