31-Mar-2008
Written by: Sam Belkin

The president of Indonesia urges protesters against anti-Muslim Dutch film not to use violence.

When right-wing Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders released his short film, “Fitna,” on March 27, 2008, the Muslim populations of the world justifiably erupted in protest. “Fitna” is based on Islamic-based terrorism and vilifies the Koran. According to Wilders, the film is “a call to shake off the creeping tyranny of Islamization,” as quoted by Fox News.

Reuters now reports that Indonesia’s current President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is urging his people not to use violence in their protests. His predominantly Muslim nation has banned broadcasts of the film, and Yudhoyono has called on the Dutch government and parliament to do the same.

Earlier today, one Indonesian Muslim group protested outside the Dutch embassy, calling for the death of the filmmaker. Police allowed other protesters to throw eggs and plastic water bottles into the embassy compound.

Yudhoyono plans to ban Wilders from ever visiting Indonesia, but wishes his people to refrain from vandalism or any other kind of destructive protest that Islam and other religions would not allow.

Indonesia, a former Dutch colony, is the most populous Muslim nation, but its protests against Wilders’s film are still small-scale.

Sumber: thecelebritycafe