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Police arrest man behind doctored 'Santa' Ma'ruf video
The suspect has been taken to Aceh Police headquarters for investigation.
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Vice presidential candidate Ma'ruf Amin (center, in black) (Sindo/POOL/Isra Triansyah)
T
he Lhokseumawe Police in Aceh have apprehended a 31-year-old man who allegedly edited footage of vice-presidential candidate and Muslim cleric Ma'ruf Amin to show him in a Santa Claus costume and posted it to the internet.
The Lhokseumawe Police on Dec. 26 arrested the man, a resident of Nisam district in North Aceh who has been identified only with the initial S, and took him to Aceh Police headquarters for further investigation, a police official said.
Criminal investigation head First Insp. Rizki Andrian at the Lhokseumawe Police confirmed the arrest on Thursday, saying that S was also named a suspect in the case.
"We have arrested the man suspected of spreading a video that could trigger hatred," Rizki said, as quoted by kompas.com on Thursday.
The video, which has circulated on social media, depicts the non-active chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) in a Santa Claus costume, wishing all the nation's Christians "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year".
The footage appears to be the edited version of an official campaign video for the Joko "Jokowi" Widodo-Ma'ruf Amin pair, which shows Ma'ruf in a black suit, white scarf and black peci (cap) delivering his Christmas message.
Read also: Jokowi's VP candidate Ma’ruf Amin posts rare Christmas greeting
The Jokowi-Ma'ruf national campaign team reported the suspected perpetrator of the doctored footage to the police after it had already spread across the internet.
The case was now under the jurisdiction of the Aceh Police, said Rizki. (afr/swd)
