The existence of blasphemy laws in Indonesia, and the potential for harsh criminal punishment, may undermine human rights protections, particularly freedom of speech and freedom of religion for religious minorities.
Author
Eka Nugraha Putra, Assistant Professor, Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Summary
On 15 March 2023, Indonesian social media figure Lina Mukherjee was reported to police by a cleric from Palembang for blasphemy, after a TikTok video of her eating pork went viral on social media. In the video, Lina, a Muslim, is depicted saying an Islamic prayer before eating pork, which is forbidden for Muslims.
She eventually issued a public apology and claimed the video was created spontaneously, without any intention to mock Islam, but regardless her case will likely proceed to trial for blasphemy under Article 28(2) of the Information and Electronic Transaction (ITE) Law and Article 156 of the Indonesian Criminal Code. The cleric who reported Lina is insisting on the case being brought to trial and has refused to resolve the case through mediation.
A month prior, another Muslim, Wawan Kurniawan, was arrested by authorities after forcing his way into a house where a Christian prayer group was meeting. He intentionally disrupted their prayers, justifying his entry by saying that the prayer group had no official permit. Wawan was arrested but he was not charged with blasphemy. The prosecutor said Wawan’s act of disrupting prayer did not constitute a religious offence and downgraded the charges to a lesser offence – forced entry under Articles 335 and 167 of the Indonesian Criminal Code.
The two cases highlight inconsistencies in the way Indonesian authorities enforce blasphemy laws. The existence of blasphemy laws in Indonesia, and the potential for harsh criminal punishment, may undermine human rights protections, particularly freedom of speech and freedom of religion for religious minorities.
Published in: Indonesia at Melbourne — University of Melbourne
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