T

he Tanjungbalai Police on Thursday announced they had received statements from language experts with North Sumatra University in regards to alleged insults uttered by a Chinese-Indonesian resident named Meliana against a religion.

Tanjungbalai Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Ayep Wahyu Gunawan said the witnesses had been questioned, but they could not confirm that Meliana had committed blasphemy.

“Using their expertise, they explained the words used by Meliana, but police will still conduct further inquiries with the witnesses,” Ayep told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Tanjungbalai Police detective chief Adj. Comr. Yayang Rizky Pratama said that according to the expert witnesses, Meliana stated she was deafened and then angered by the exceedingly loud sound of the adzan, the Muslim call to prayer, coming from the mosque, but she made no expression of hate. Rizky said police would cross-check her statements with language experts and witnesses who heard Meliana’s words first-hand.

“After confirmation with other witnesses, we will know whether Meliana had committed blasphemy,” said Rizky.