Bima Arya Sugiarto, Mayor of Bogor
It's been a hard lesson for me

The speech by Bogor Mayor Bima Arya, 42, at an international conference discussing 'Unity in Diversity' in Florence, Italy, last November 6, triggered quite a bit of criticism back home. It seems the mayor's speech extolled the religious tolerance in the city he governs, better known as the 'Rainy City'. But the fact is that Bogor is anything but an example of religious tolerance, while Mayor Bima himself is guilty of violating the right to freedom of religion.

At the conference attended by about 100 mayors from around the world, Bima shared his views on conflict management and maintaining religious freedom. He also stressed that Bogor was a city that never experienced serious social conflict that threatened its citizens.

November 17, 2015