he National Police will invite the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) and representatives from the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) to observe the case screening surrounding the alleged religious blasphemy committed by inactive Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama.
“We are inviting them to observe the case screening so that they can see what we have obtained [from our investigation into the case] and they can give more information into the case,” the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) chief Comr. Gen. Ari Dono Sukmanto said at his office in Central Jakarta on Friday.
The case screening is slated to be held in the main meeting room at the headquarters of the National Police on Nov. 15.
The police have questioned FPI chairman Habib Rizieq Shihab and MUI chairman Ma'aruf Amin in regards to Ahok’s alleged blasphemy.
Both of them expressed the firm belief that Ahok had committed blasphemy after citing a Quranic verse while talking to residents of Thousand Islands regency earlier this year.
The MUI consultative board said on Wednesday that it expected the police to utilize the council’s religious opinion while investigating Ahok to deliver a sense of justice to all Muslims in Indonesia.
Ari refused to respond to this request.
“I don't want to make any comments about it. Everyone has a different sense of justice. Your standard of ‘fairness’ is different with mine,” he said. (ebf)
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