ICC Note:
Indonesian police are investigating whether to charge a hardline Muslim cleric, Habib Rizieq, regarding blasphemy against Christianity. Rizieq is the leader of the Islamic Defender’s Front (FPI) and one of the main voices calling for the imprisonment of the Christian governor of Jakarta known as Ahok. The police chief Tito Karnavian warned that Islamic extremism is increasing in Indonesia. A spokesman for the police in West Java said, “Unfortunately, democracy is being misused by certain groups to limit other people’s freedoms.” Due to the growing voice of Islamic extremism, many Christian minorities have felt more under threat of violence and persecution in Indonesia.
1/19/2017 Indonesia (Reuters) – Indonesian police on Wednesday said they were investigating whether the controversial leader of a hardline Islamist group insulted the country’s secular state ideology, as concern grows over the clout of fundamentalist groups.
National police chief Tito Karnavian has warned against creeping Islamic extremism in the country of 250 million, home to dozens of religious and ethnic groups, and where the vast majority of citizens practice a moderate form of Islam.
Police are questioning Habib Rizieq, head of the hardline Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), a key organiser of recent rallies by hundreds of thousands of Muslims against Jakarta’s governor, an ethnic Chinese Christian, who is on trial over accusations that he insulted the Muslim holy book, the Koran.
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ICC Note:

Indonesian police are investigating whether to charge a hardline Muslim cleric, Habib Rizieq, regarding blasphemy against Christianity. Rizieq is the leader of the Islamic Defender’s Front (FPI) and one of the main voices calling for the imprisonment of the Christian governor of Jakarta known as Ahok. The police chief Tito Karnavian warned that Islamic extremism is increasing in Indonesia. A spokesman for the police in West Java said, “Unfortunately, democracy is being misused by certain groups to limit other people’s freedoms.” Due to the growing voice of Islamic extremism, many Christian minorities have felt more under threat of violence and persecution in Indonesia.

1/19/2017 Indonesia (Reuters) – Indonesian police on Wednesday said they were investigating whether the controversial leader of a hardline Islamist group insulted the country’s secular state ideology, as concern grows over the clout of fundamentalist groups.

National police chief Tito Karnavian has warned against creeping Islamic extremism in the country of 250 million, home to dozens of religious and ethnic groups, and where the vast majority of citizens practice a moderate form of Islam.

Police are questioning Habib Rizieq, head of the hardline Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), a key organiser of recent rallies by hundreds of thousands of Muslims against Jakarta’s governor, an ethnic Chinese Christian, who is on trial over accusations that he insulted the Muslim holy book, the Koran.

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[Full Story]