Police on Wednesday named the minority Christian governor of the country's capital as a suspect in a blasphemy investigation in a major test of the Muslim-majority nation's reputation for religious tolerance.
Earlier this month the capital Jakarta was rocked by a massive protest by conservative Muslims against the governor. One person died and dozens were injured in rioting. Hardliners have threatened more protests if Ahok isn't arrested.
Police announced at a press conference that the popular governor, Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, cannot leave the country while the investigation is underway.
However they said he is not being detained because investigators and religious experts were sharply divided over whether the comments at issue were blasphemous.
"After long discussions, we reached a decision that the case should be tried in an open court," said National Police chief detective Ari Dono.
The accusation of blasphemy against Ahok, an ethnic Chinese and Christian who is an ally of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, has galvanized Jokowi's political opponents in the nation of 250 million where about 90 percent of people are Muslims.
It has been also been a gift to politicians vying against Ahok, who is seeking a second term as Jakarta governor in elections in February. Among them is the son of former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who courted controversy by calling for Ahok's arrest and saying he supported the Nov. 4 protet.
The Islamic Defenders Front, a vigilante group that wants to impose Shariah law, began demanding Ahok's arrest after a video circulated online in which he joked to an audience about a passage in the Quran that could be interpreted as prohibiting Muslims from accepting non-Muslims as leaders. The governor has apologized for the comment.
Ahok is popular with the city's middle class, but has made enemies from a tough stance against corruption and an urban program that has evicted thousands of the city's poorest from slums.
Blasphemy is a criminal offense in Indonesia. Amnesty International documented 106 convictions between 2004 and 2014 with some individuals imprisoned for up to five years.
Stephen Wright & Niniek Karmini/Associated Press
(brl/red)
