The topic of blasphemy has been dominating headlines in Indonesia for several months, but this is the first time we can remember seeing something actually resembling good news regarding the country’s controversial blasphemy law.
Although the highly publicized case of Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama’s alleged blasphemy against Islam has been discussed endlessly, some of you may know there was another high-profile (and highly controversial) blasphemy case lodged against a Universitas Indonesia (UI) lecturer by the name of Ade Armando. Last month, Ade was named a blasphemy suspect because he wrote, among other things, that “Allah (God) is not an Arab” on a Facebook post.
Today, the police announced that they have dropped their investigation on Ade’s case.
“Yes, it’s true,” said Wahyu Hadiningrat, director of the Jakarta Metro Police’s Special Crimes Investigation Unit, as quoted by Warta Kota today.
Oddly, the police seemed reluctant to give any details regarding the termination of the investigation, with Wahyu choosing not to reveal exactly why Ade got off the hook.
Ade was previously charged with violating Article 28 of the controversial UU ITE, which forbids sharing information online that could lead to racial or religious hatred. Ade was also charged with violating Article 156a of the Criminal Code, which forbids acts of blasphemy against official religions in Indonesia.
On a related note, many observers believe that Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama will eventually be convicted for blasphemy at the end of his ongoing trial, mainly due to the fact that most blasphemy charges in Indonesia end up in convictions. But perhaps Ade’s case can serve as a precedent, proving that law enforcers can in fact clear people of blasphemy charges if the accusation against them are weak to begin with.
