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Jakarta officials remove provocative banners to reduce tension
The Jakarta administration had taken down more than 1,000 provocative banners by Friday in an effort to reduce potential conflict among residents approaching the gubernatorial runoff election on April 19.
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Public order Agency Officers tear down a provocative Banner in Cengkareng, West Jakarta, March 15. (JP/Seto Wardhana.)
T
he Jakarta administration had taken down more than 1,000 provocative banners by Friday in an effort to reduce potential conflict among residents approaching the gubernatorial runoff election on April 19.
"In total, we have taken down 1,153 banners in Jakarta. They are piled up [in our office]," said acting Jakarta governor Sumarsono on Friday at City Hall, adding that the banners lacked permits from Jakarta officials.
(Read also: 266 hate banners found in Jakarta)
Police found that most of the banners were in East and West Jakarta, according to Sumarsono. They will investigate the suspects behind erecting them for possible criminal procedures, he said.
Previously, several mosques have installed banners emblazoned with messages calling on Muslims to not perform funeral prayers for deceased Muslims found to have voted for Ahok, who is a Christian of Chinese ethnicity.
This messaging has affected a family who claimed that authorities of a local mosque in Setiabudi, South Jakarta, denied their request to hold prayers for their deceased mother because the mother was found to have voted for Ahok in the Feb.15 election (dan)
