JAKARTA: A large protest of Indonesian youth rallied on Thursday in front of Greenpeace Indonesia's office in the capital, Jakarta, calling for the organization to be closed in the country. They said that the international environmental group based in The Netherlands was relying on gambling money to operate. Gambling is forbidden in Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world, and the youth say the government should not allow Greenpeace to continue work in the country while receiving money from “un-Islamic” sources. “We give Greenpeace a month to leave during this Ramadan month,” said Habib Sholeh bin Muhammad al Hadar, the leader of the rally, who was quoted by local media as saying. The protesters warned that if the organization remained in the country after the month, they would organize an even larger rally to force Greenpeace from the country. He added that Greenpeace only “serves foreign interests” by being in Indonesia. The gambling issue was denied by Greenpeace Indonesia, but the protest leader said the official website of the environmental organization said it received donations from Postcode Lottery in 2010 and 2012, with a total received of some $2.25 million. “They kept on saying that they did not receive any gambling money, but in fact Greenpeace Netherlands clearly received it in 2010 and 2012,” he said. “The money went from Greenpeace Netherlands to Greenpeace International, and then to Greenpeace Southeast Asia, before finally being received by Greenpeace Indonesia,” he added. Meanwhile, Greenpeace Indonesia head Nur Hidayati said in a press release that the organization had never accepted gambling funds, adding that the Dutch Postcode Lottery did not involve gambling. “It is a common practice in the Netherlands and is not contrary to Greenpeace's basic values. The organization does not accept funding from any government or company. But our culture is different,” she added.
