TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Businessman charged for communism comments

A man in Karawang, West Java, has reportedly been charged with blasphemy after allegedly writing in a Facebook post that some Muslim clerics in the past were communists to make a point that not all communists are atheists

Safrin La Batu (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Tue, June 13, 2017

Share This Article

Change Size

Businessman charged for communism comments

A

man in Karawang, West Java, has reportedly been charged with blasphemy after allegedly writing in a Facebook post that some Muslim clerics in the past were communists to make a point that not all communists are atheists.

The man, identified as former PT Tatar Kertabumi president director Aking Saputra, did not name the clerics he was referring to, but his Facebook post has angered some Muslim groups who reported him to the Karawang Police on allegations of blasphemy.

Aking was named a suspect last Friday and was asked to attend a questioning related to the case on Monday, one of his lawyers, Ade Komaruddin, who is also an activist at the Anti-Persecution Coalition, said on Monday. “He was about to be detained by the police but we have requested that his arrest be suspended,” Asep told The Jakarta Post over the phone.

Ade said Aking was only trying to initiate a discussion with his Facebook friends, but someone screen-captured his post and shared the picture with a caption calling him a “religious blasphemer.” A group calling itself the Karawang People Forum then reported him to the police.

According to the screenshot of his Facebook post that has gone viral, Aking argued that communism and atheism were not the same. Indonesian students, he said, should be able to distinguish between the two to avoid misunderstanding.

“What [the students] understand is that communists are atheists and godless,” Aking wrote.

He then proceeded with a call for teachers and lecturers commenting on the post to explain communism to their students.

At the end of his post, he wrote, “Do children these days know that many prominent figures of the PKI [Indonesian Communist Party] are also notable religious figures [of course the majority of them were Muslims]?”

Asep said Aking had written an apology on social media and also had it published in some local newspapers but that did not stop people from calling for him to be prosecuted. Aking also reportedly met with local Islamic preachers to clarify that he did not mean to insult Islam, but his efforts to open the discussion have so far been fruitless. “He has also been intimidated,” Ade said.

The Anti-Persecution Coalition said in a statement that Aking was a victim of persecution and his case was similar to that of physician Fiera Lovita’s in Solok, West Sumatra, last month. The coalition said that as the Facebook post was made last year, it was clear that some people had tracked him down and shared the post in an effort to have him prosecuted.

The Karawang Police said they had charged Aking under the 1965 Blasphemy Law and the 2016 Electronic Information and Transactions Law (ITE), according to a local news outlet. “Aking Saputra has been named a blasphemy suspect,” Karawang Police spokesman Adj. Comr. Maradona Armin Mappaseng said as quoted by karawangplus.com on Friday.

Karawang Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Ade Ary Syam Indradi declined to comment on the case when contacted by the Post, suggesting that questions be directed to the National Police.

Meanwhile, National Police spokesman Comr. Gen. Setyo Wasisto said he still needed to look into the case before speaking about it.

West Java Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Yunus also declined to comment on the case, saying he had no information about it.

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.