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Muslim preacher accused of calling PDI-P members communists acquitted
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Alfian Tanjung, a former lecturer at Jakarta's Prof. Dr. Hamka Muhammadiyah University (UHAMKA), speaks to media at the Press Council building in Kebon Sirih, Central Jakarta, on March 8, 2017. (Tribun Jabar/File)
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lfian Tanjung, a Muslim preacher and former lecturer charged with spreading hate speech for calling the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) members “communists” on Twitter, was acquitted of all charges, as he had only "copied and pasted" information from dubious sources.
The Central Jakarta District Court ruled on Wednesday that what Alfian had done was not a crime.
Alfian had tweeted on his account last year that "85 percent of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle members are [members] of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).”
The PKI was disbanded after being accused of being responsible for the putsch against president Sukarno and the killing of six Army generals in 1965.
Presiding judge Mahfudin argued that Alfian had just copied an unverified statement from a news portal that apparently was not registered with the Press Council.
"The defendant just copied and pasted the information on his social media account," he said, as quoted by tribunnews.com.
Read also: Lecturer apologizes for calling Press Council member PKI cadre
Alfian was arrested in September last year, after a PDIP member reported him to the police for allegedly spreading hate speech against the party. (fac/ahw)
