Indonesian police have arrested a Christian man for making comments about Islam on social media, which led to hundreds of angry Muslims surrounding his home.
Local reports indicate that Rudi Simamora, a florist residing in Sunggal near Medan city in North Sumatra Province, was besieged by a Muslim mob for over an hour. Rudi had stated on his TikTok account that the messages from Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, were of human rather than divine origin, and some residents claimed he suggested that the Quranic Allah is racist, according to TVOne.com.
Amid the mob encirclement, Rudi appealed for police assistance through his TikTok account, as reported by TribunMedan TV. He was previously arrested in 2022 for allegedly insulting Islam, sentenced to one year in prison on February 23, 2023, and released earlier this year.
The Rev. Erwin Tambunan, chairperson of the Medan Regional Indonesian Churches Association (Persatuan Gereja Indonesia Daerah, or PGID), publicly apologized to the Muslim community for Rudi’s earlier comments and affirmed that Christians support all legal actions against such individuals.
In a separate incident, Muchtar Nababan, a former councilor in the coastal city of Sibolga, about 210 miles from Medan, was arrested on September 3 for allegedly blaspheming Muhammad and Islam on his Facebook account. Muchtar reportedly claimed on Facebook that Christians were protected from Muslims’ black magic.
His arrest followed a case filed against him by Raju Firmanda, secretary of the National Committee of Indonesia Youth (Komite Nasional Pemuda Indonesia, or KNPI), Central Tapanuli Chapter. Area Muslims staged protests against Muchtar at the Sibolga police headquarters, according to Bisik.id.
Sibolga police spokesman Iptu Suyatno stated that Muchtar was detained within 10 days of police receiving the report regarding his comments, as reported by detikcom.
Muslims comprise 83.3% of Indonesia's population, while Christians account for approximately 11.43%, with the Evangelical population estimated at 3.23%.
Indonesia ranks 42nd on the Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List, which identifies the 50 countries where it is most challenging to be a Christian. According to the WWL report, Indonesian society has adopted a more conservative Islamic character, and churches involved in evangelistic outreach face the risk of being targeted by Islamic extremist groups.
