Many observers have theorized that the public furor surrounding blasphemy charges against Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama (for which he was formally named a suspect yesterday), were fueled by Ahok’s political opponents who were hoping to take advantage of the situation. Even President Joko Widodo pointed to political actors as being behind the violence that erupted at the end of the November 4 protest.
It wouldn’t be the first time people have used Indonesia’s blasphemy laws to attack their political opponents and it almost certainly won’t be the last.
Yesterday, senior Gerindra Party politician and the head of House Commission III, Desmond J Mahesa, was reported to the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Unit by Bambang Sri Pujo, an activist from the group Aliansi Nasional 98, for blasphemy.
According to Bambang’s report, Desmond actually made the blasphemous remarks while on a TV show discussing Ahok’s blasphemy case on Tuesday. Desmond was talking about a rumored plan by Ahok’s legal team to bring a religious scholar from Egypt to testify on his behalf for the case (no such witness testified to the police).
According to Bambang, Desmond said that Ahok would be better off reviving the Prophet Mohammed rather than bringing in an expert from Egypt.
“Having analyzed it from a legal perspective, we consider Desmond’s statement more dangerous, than the statement of Pak Ahok,” Bambang said at the office of Police Criminal Investigation Unit in Jakarta yesterday as quoted by Kompas.
Bambang said that Desmond’s statements insulted religion by mentioning bringing the Prophet back to life in violation of the central tenets of Islam.
Desmond strongly denied the blasphemy charges, saying that, as a Muslim and a follower of the Prophet Muhammad himself, he could not have insulted Islam. the Prophet Muhammad. He said his statement was taken out of context and that, as a member of parliament, he has a right to speak to the public with certain immunities.
The police have not yet issued a statement on the case and whether Desmond will be formally named a suspect as Ahok was.
