Indonesia passes law to ban organisations deemed against its ideology

A man has his head covered with a Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia flag during a protest against the President Joko Widodo's decree to disband Islamist groups in Jakarta, Indonesia, July 18, 2017. REUTERS/Beawiharta

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Around 1,000 Indonesians, led by hardline Islamist groups, protested outside parliament on Tuesday as lawmakers approved a presidential decree banning any civil organisations deemed to go against the country's secular state ideology.

Tuesday's approval puts into law a policy President Joko Widodo set in a decree in July. The policy was aimed at containing hardline groups who have cast a shadow over the long-standing reputation for religious tolerance in the world's largest Muslim-majority nation.