A court docket in Indonesia has convicted a lady of inciting spiritual hatred and sentenced her to 2 years in jail for saying a Muslim prayer after which consuming pork in a TikTok video
ByMUHAMMAD HATTA Related Press and EDNA TARIGAN Related Press
September 21, 2023, 10:12 AM
An unidentified relative hugs Lina Lutfiawati, middle, after her trial in Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. The court docket sentenced her to 2 years in jail por saying a Muslim prayer after which consuming pork on a TikTok video. (AP Picture/Mohammad Fadli)
The Related Press
PALEMBANG, Indonesia — A court docket in Indonesia has convicted a lady of inciting spiritual hatred and sentenced her to 2 years in jail for saying a Muslim prayer after which consuming pork — thought-about forbidden in Islam — on a TikTok video.
Judges at Palembang court docket in South Sumatra province in Sumatra island additionally ordered Lina Lutfiawati to pay a high quality of 250 million rupiah ($16,262) of their blasphemy trial verdict on Tuesday
Lutfiawati, who’s often known as Lina Mukherjee and who identifies as Muslim, mentioned a short prayer phrase that interprets to “within the title of God” earlier than consuming a crispy pork pores and skin in a video that was printed in March and was extensively considered.
As soon as she went on trial on blasphemy fees, she expressed remorse and apologized in a publish on her social media final month. She apologized once more after Tuesday’s verdict.
“I’m shocked. I’ve apologized many instances. Really, I do know that I used to be unsuitable, however I didn’t anticipate the sentence to be two years,” Lutfiawati mentioned after the trial.
Indonesia is the biggest Muslim-majority nation on this planet and consuming pork is taken into account “haram,” or forbidden in Islam.
The cost of inciting hatred in opposition to a spiritual group is part of blasphemy legal guidelines that critics in Indonesia say have been used to curtail freedom of expression.
“What’s been taking place to Lina isn’t a surprise, regardless of the federal government’s guarantees” to guard freedom of expression, mentioned Usman Hamid, the Government Director of Amnesty Worldwide Indonesia. He mentioned the legal guidelines even have been used to focus on spiritual minorities.
In 2017, Jakarta Gov. Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian, was imprisoned for 2 years after being discovered responsible of blasphemy for quoting a verse from the Koran throughout a reelection marketing campaign speech.
In 2018, an Indonesian court docket sentenced an ethnic Chinese language girl, Meiliana, who complained a few noisy mosque to 18 months in jail for blasphemy.
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Tarigan reported from Jakarta, Indonesia.
