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Busloads of people depart for Monas from FPI headquarters
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Warming up: Buses parked on a roadside near the headquarters of the hardline group Islam Defenders Front (FPI) on Friday before leaving for the National Monument square with protesters on board. (JP/Safrin La Batu)
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t least 10 buses departed from the headquarters of the hard-line group Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) in the Petamburan area of Central Jakarta on Friday morning to carry participants to a mass gathering in downtown Jakarta.
The gathering, to begin at the National Monument (Monas) square at 8 a.m., is aimed at pushing for the arrest of Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama in a blasphemy case.
Most of the participants leaving from FPI headquarters were wearing white Muslim attire.
“The buses have been standing here since [Thursday] afternoon," said Teguh, a local resident.
Teguh said most of the participants had gathered at the FPI headquarters on Thursday and spent the night there.
As many as 200,000 demonstrators are expected to join the Monas gathering, which is scheduled to run until 1 p.m. This will be a follow-up to a large-scale anti-Ahok rally on Nov. 4, when protesters, mostly from Muslim groups, swarmed onto Jakarta streets to demand Ahok's prosecution in a blasphemy case.
Last month, the National Police named Ahok, a Christian of Chinese descent, a suspect of blasphemy over comments on a Quranic verse the governor had made during a visit to Thousand Islands regency in September. (hwa)
