In a extensively criticised viral TikTok video, influencer Lina Mukherjee, who stated Tasmiyah —an Arabic phrase that Muslims say forward of any enterprise huge or small — earlier than consuming pork, was sentenced to 2 years in jail and slapped with a hefty fantastic by an Indonesian court docket.
At a court docket on Tuesday in Palembang, South Sumatra, Lina Mukherjee, 33, was adjudged responsible of “spreading info meant to incite hatred towards non secular people and particular teams.”
The authorized motion towards Mukherjee was taken after an area complained about her in March for the viral video wherein she stated the Arabic phrase Bismillah (within the title of Allah) earlier than consuming crispy pork pores and skin.
Pork is forbidden below Islam, which is the dominant faith in Indonesia.
Mukherjee, who identifies as a Muslim, was criticised for her actions by conservative organisations, together with the Indonesian Ulema Council, the nation’s prime Muslim clerical authority, which dominated that the video was blasphemous.
She was additionally fined 250 million rupiah ($16,200) for which her jail time period can be prolonged by three months if it was not paid, AFP reported.
That is the newest in a string of blasphemy instances within the nation.
Final yr Indonesian police arrested six individuals on fees of blasphemy over a bar chain’s free alcohol promotion for patrons named Mohammed.
Rights teams have lengthy campaigned towards the legal guidelines they are saying are incessantly misused to focus on non secular minorities.
Jakarta’s ex-governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, higher often called Ahok, was jailed for almost two years on controversial blasphemy fees in 2017.
Purnama, a Christian, was jailed for feedback he made on the marketing campaign path throughout a re-election bid that noticed him accused of insulting Islam.
