Local reports state that Surabaya, Indonesia Police, arrested a Christian on Thursday, October 17, after he made remarks about Islam on social media that caused hundreds of irate Muslims to storm his house.
Reports from local media show that a Muslim mob spent over an hour surrounding the home of florist Rudi Simamora in Sunggal, near Medan City, Deli Serdang Regency, North Sumatra Province.
TVOne.com reported that Rudi, on his TikTok account, expressed that Muhammad’s messages were of human origin and that he allegedly stated that Allah in the Quran is racist.
Throughout the siege, Rudi requested police assistance, according to TribunMedan TV.
“Police, please help me,” he said in a live broadcast. “Please help me, those police who are watching the broadcast. Friends, please get in touch with the police first, whoever the police are in Medan City.”
The website Tribun.com, which belongs to Kompas, reported Rudi’s arrest in 2022 on suspicion of defaming Islam. He served a one-year prison sentence and was released earlier this year after being sentenced on February 23, 2023.
The Rev. Erwin Tambunan, chairperson of the Medan Regional Indonesian Churches Association (Persatuan Gereja Indonesia Daerah, or PGID), had apologized to the Muslim community for Rudi’s 2022 comments and said Christians support all legal processes against such perpetrators.
Arrest in Sibolga
In the coastal city of Sibolga, about 210 miles away from Medan, the capital of North Sumatra Province, Muchtar Nababan, a former councilor of Sibolga, was arrested on September 3 for allegedly blaspheming Muhammad and Islam on his Facebook account.
Muchtar allegedly claimed on Facebook that Muslims didn’t practice black magic, so Christians were safe.
The arrest occurred after Raju Firmanda, secretary of the National Committee of Indonesia Youth (Komite Nasional Pemuda Indonesia, or KNPI), Central Tapanuli Chapter, filed a case against Muchtar. According to Bisik, area Muslims staged demonstrations against Muchtar at Sibolga police headquarters.
“I am very disappointed with the behavior of a former member of the Sibolga City DPRD who wrote something that I suspect has insulted Islam,” Raju reportedly said. “We also strongly agree that it is not permissible to blaspheme any religion. Let us monitor this law enforcement process until it is complete.”
According to Detikcom, within 10 days of a report submitted to police about Muchtar’s comments, officers detained him, said Sibolga police spokesman Iptu Suyatno.
According to the Joshua Project, Muslims account for 83.3 percent of Indonesia’s population, while 11.43 percent identify as Christians. The evangelical population is estimated to comprise around 3.23 percent of the total population.
Indonesia ranked 42nd on the Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is most challenging to be a Christian. According to the WWL report, Indonesian society has taken on a more conservative Islamic character, putting churches engaged in evangelistic outreach at risk of attack by Islamic extremist groups.
