Wednesday President Obama raised eyebrows in the human rights world when he bestowed lavish praise on Indonesia's human rights record, particularly with regards to free speech and religious freedom. Specifically the President gave kudos to the most populous Muslim country in the world for the "spirit of tolerance that is written into your constitution, symbolized in your mosques and churches and temples, and embodied in your people."
Yet just seven months ago, Indonesia's highest court issued a landmark ruling widely considered to be a major setback to speech and religious rights. The Constitutional Court upheld the constitutionality of Indonesia's Blasphemy Act, which criminalizes speech or acts considered offensive to government approved religions as well as "deviations from teachings of religion considered fundamental by scholars of the relevant religion."
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