Indonesian man imprisoned for atheist confession on Facebook

An Indonesian court sentenced a man to two-and-a-half years in prison for declaring himself an atheist on the social networking website.

Muaro District Court, West Sumatra, found 32-year-old Alexander Aan guilty of blasphemy against Islam and insulting the Prophet Mohammed through a Facebook group Ateis Minang, which he administrated.

The Jakarta Post daily reported that Aan had accepted the ruling and said that for him "faith is a personal matter and I have expressed my regret and apology to every party, including my family."

Indonesia is a secular country with the largest Muslim population in the world.