You know that saying, “politics makes strange bedfellows”?
The so-called Presidium Alumni 212 is a hardline group made up of people who attended the massive “Action in Defense of Islam” protest rally on December 12 (2/12) calling for Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian of Chinese-descent and the governor of Jakarta at the time, to be immediately jailed for his alleged blasphemy. But now the group says it’s going to speak out in defense of another notable Christian Chinese-Indonesian: Hary Tanoesoedibjo.
The wealthy and politically-influential media mogul is often referred to in the local media as just Hary Tanoe, but in the western media, he is almost always referred to as US President Donald Trump’s Indonesian business partner (due to his company’s multi-million dollar deal with Trump Hotels to build two luxury resorts in Indonesia).
Hary has had a rough time of it lately, having recently been named a suspect by the Jakarta Police over alleged threats made against a public prosecutor involved in a graft case against one of the media mogul’s companies.
But hey, the Presidium Alumni 212 are here to help.
https://www.facebook.com/PresidiumAlumni212/photos/a.1012626392201544.1073741828.1012490872215096/1051831024947747/?type=3
Members of the group marched from Sunda Kelapa Gading to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) today to protest the so-called “criminalization of Islamic scholars” (like pornography suspect / Islamic Defenders Front leader Habib Rizieq) but also the criminalization of Hary Tanoe.
Why would members of notoriously hardline Islamic group come to the defense of Hary Tanoe, when the overriding mission of their cause is to convince Indonesia that non-Muslim leaders shouldn’t be accepted?
Well, according to Presidium Alumni 212 chairman Ansufri Idrus Sambo, it’s because a “friend” asked him to.
“Actually somebody told us, said to us, ‘Please help Hary he helped us out a lot with our news too’,” Sambo said at the Komnas HAM office today as quoted by CNN Indonesia.
Hary Tanoe has been closely associated with Gerindra chairman Prabowo Subianto, who backed Ahok’s rival Anies Baswedan in this year’s Jakarta gubernatorial elections. Journalist Allan Nairn, in his much-discussed article linking Trump to Hary Tanoe and the anti-Ahok movement, accused Hary of being a big supporter of a military conspiracy to overthrow the government of President Joko Widodo.
According to Sambo, the criminalization of those like Rizieq and Hary are all part of a conspiracy by Jokowi’s administration to get revenge for Ahok’s loss in the election.
“Our friend said, ‘This also requires our help, because we are not just helping the Muslim people. Whoever is being persecuted by the regime because of Ahok, they should be helped too, reported to Komnas HAM,” said Sambo, quoting his unnamed “friend”.
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