An Indonesian YouTuber named Muhammad Kace has been arrested in Bali for blasphemy, following a sermon video in which he allegedly insulted Prophet Muhammad.
Head of the Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) Agus Andrianto has confirmed the arrest and said Muhammad Kace will be transported to Jakarta today.
He is charged with violations of articles on blasphemy and disinformation under the Criminal Code (KUHP) and the Information and Electronic Transactions Act (UU ITE), which are punishable by up to six years in prison.
Muhammad Kace made headlines in Indonesia recently for his controversial YouTube videos, which police suspected contain blasphemous content. The National Police said there are about 400 of these videos uploaded across various social media platforms, 20 of which have been taken down.
In a YouTube video that has widely circulated in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, Muhammad Kace was said to have insulted Prophet Muhammad by implying that the founder of Islam was a disciple of jinn, or supernatural creatures that are broadly understood as a demonic spirit.
While that particular video appears to have been taken down at the time of publication, Muhammad Kace seems to have been extremely active on YouTube with regular livestreams, which garner thousands of views on average.
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