Mahfud MD: Supreme Court chief. (Kompas/Riza Fathoni)Weeks after an openly-proclaimed atheist was sent to prison by a court in West Sumatra, a senior chief justice says that atheists and communists do have a place in the country.



Constitutional Court chief Mahfud MD told visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel that the Indonesian Constitution gave people the freedom to be atheists or communists as it guaranteed equality in freedom.



Mahfud was answering Merkel’s questions about freedom of religion and democracy in Indonesia during a visit to the Constitutional Court on Tuesday evening.



“Since its inception, the Constitutional Court has guaranteed the freedom of atheists and communists in this country, as long as they do not interfere with the freedom of people of other religions. Freedom is equality,” Mahfud said, as quoted by kompas.com.



The nation wo...