Megawati accused of blasphemy

In the midst of the political heat in Indonesia, former president Megawati Soekarnoputri is now under investigation after she was alleged to have insulted religion.

A man lodged a police report claiming the PDI-P chairman had insulted religion in her speech during the party's anniversary celebrations recently.

Online media quoted Police Public Information chief (Public Relations Division) Martinus Sitompul as saying that a man known as Baharuzaman lodged a report at the Criminal Investigation Division of Indonesian National Police Headquarters here on Monday.

He said Baharuzaman claimed he representated a community group known as 'Anak Bangsa Gerakan Anti Penodaan Agama'.

In the report, Baharuzaman produced three video compact disc recordings of Megawati's speech during PDI-P's 44th anniversary celebration as evidence.

Martinus said investigations would go through the normal process as the police would be summoning several religious and language experts for their views on the allegations.

In the report, Baharuzaman alleged Megawati had in her speech, insulted religion because she accused certain religious leaders of having closed ideology and claiming themselves as oracles who could predict the future.

With the Regional Head Elections (Pilkada) slated for Feb 15, Indonesia is currently hot with ethnicity and religious issues.

Prior to this, several influential individuals, including Megawati's sister, Rachmawati were arrested for alleged involvement in mischief and planning to overthrow the government by unconstitutional means.

The authorities are also monitoring social media reports and have closed some sites found to have raised racial and religious-related issues and spreading false news which could disrupt the peace. - Bernama