Police release circular on ‘treason’ amid planned mass rally

Jakarta Police have issued a circular, reminding people that an act of treason could face the death penalty amid a plan by some Islamic conservative organizations to carry out another large-scale demonstration on Dec. 2.

Article by Safrin La Batu

“In expressing one’s thought in public, it is illegal to carry out [an act that will jeopardize] the nation’s security such as treason against the president or the vice president,” the circular stated, which was signed by Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Mochammad Iriawan.

“[The person responsible for] the act could be sentenced to death or with a life sentence,” the circular added.

A group called the National Movement to Save the Indonesia Ulema Council’s Fatwa (GNPF-MUI), the same group that organized the rally on Nov. 4, previously said they would carry out another mass rally on Dec. 2 because their demand of having the inactive Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama arrested had not been fulfilled by the police.

Ahok, a Christian of Chinese descent, has been accused of blasphemy when he mentioned a Quranic verse in a public event that was recorded and eventually went viral on social media last month.

The allegations triggered uproar among Muslim conservatives, where over a 100,000 protesters conducted a mass rally on Nov. 4 to demand the immediate arrest of Ahok.

Police named Ahok a suspect in the case last Wednesday but was not arrested. (jun)

Read more at: thejakartapost.com