ICC Note:

Muslim hardliners are planning yet another protest in Jakarta in a bid to stop the Chinese Christian candidate, known as Ahok, from winning the election. Roughly 20,000 are expected to meet to protest. They are demanding that he be thrown in prison and relieved of his duties because of what they allege was a blasphemous statement against the Quran. Yet Ahok remains widely popular among voters because of the positive changes he made in Indonesia during his term.

3/30/2017 Indonesia (Reuters) – Indonesian Muslims led by hardline groups plan to march to the presidential palace in the capital Jakarta on Friday, calling for the city’s Christian governor to be sacked for suspected blasphemy.

Religious and political tensions have been running high ahead of a second and final round of the Jakarta governor election on April 19. Incumbent Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, who is on trial for blasphemy, is running against a Muslim candidate.

The rally is expected to be the biggest demonstration since mass prayers in the grand mosque just days before the election’s first round on Feb. 15, and the latest in a series of protests that have tested religious and ethnic tolerance in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation.

…