2023-09-20 06:12:50
Indonesia
She posts a video where she prays and eats pork: incarcerated
A thirty-year-old was sentenced to two years in prison for posting images on TikTok deemed blasphemous.
PublishedSeptember 20, 2023, 08:12
Lina Mukherjee’s video triggered a wave of criticism in the country.
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An Indonesian court has sentenced a woman to two years in prison for posting a video on the TikTok network in which she recites a Muslim prayer before eating pork, a practice prohibited by Islam. Lina Mukherjee, 33, was found guilty on Tuesday by a court in Palembang, south of the island of Sumatra, of “disseminating information inciting hatred once morest individuals or religious groups”.
The thirty-year-old was also sentenced to a large fine of 250 million rupees (14,500 francs) which will earn her an additional three months in prison if she does not pay it. In the video, posted in March, she uttered the words “In the name of God” before biting into a piece of pork. Seen by millions of users, the video triggered a wave of criticism in Indonesia.
A very sensitive subject
The Indonesian Ulema Council, the highest religious body in Indonesia which represents all Muslims in the country, considered the video to be blasphemous. Any reference to Islam is very sensitive in the largest Muslim country in the world. Last year, Indonesian police arrested six people for blasphemy, following a campaign promoting free alcohol by a chain of bars aimed at customers named Mohammed.
Rights groups regularly denounce misuse of the law to target religious minorities. The former governor of Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, of Christian faith, was sentenced to two years in prison in 2017 on controversial charges of blasphemy.
(AFP)
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