Violence in Jakarta as Muslims protest, demand Christian governor Ahok be jailed
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
Jakarta: The streets of Jakarta erupted into violence on Friday night leaving one dead and multiple people injured as police clashed with demonstrators following a rally of about 150,000 people demanding the arrest of the city's Chinese Christian governor.
Jakarta police spokesman Awi Setiyono said one person had died from asthma and at least 12 police officers and four protesters were injured in the protests.
The protest was largely peaceful during the day however the mood soured after clashes between police and demonstrators on Friday night culminated in police using tear gas to disperse the remaining crowd outside the presidential palace.
Demonstrators threw stones and vehicles belonging to the police paramilitary force BRIMOB were set on fire.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/jakarta-protest-thousands-of-muslims-gather-to-demand-jailing-of-christian-governor-ahok-20161104-gsifnm.html
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian police are planning a show of force in the capital Jakarta on Friday to contain a much-hyped protest by Muslim hard-liners against the city's popular governor that threatens to ignite religious and racial flashpoints.
An accusation of blasphemy against Jakarta Gov. Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, an ethnic Chinese and minority Christian who is an ally of the country's president, has galvanized his political opponents in the Muslim-majority nation of 250 million and given a notorious group of hard-liners a national stage.
National Police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar said 16,000 police will be deployed along with 2,000 soldiers and 2,000 of Jakarta's public order officers for the protest that is expected to begin in the early afternoon following Friday prayers. Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo, chief of Indonesia's powerful military, has said it "will be in the front line against any movement aimed at disrupting the unity and integrity of the nation."
Indonesians are already fighting on social media over the blasphemy claim and the protest, which organizers optimistically boast will attract half a million people to Jakarta's traffic clogged streets. Police have said it might draw up to 100,000 people based on communications with Muslim groups involved in its planning.
Blasphemy is a criminal offense in Indonesia and prosecutions have increased in the past decade. Amnesty International documented 106 convictions between 2004 and 2014 with some individuals imprisoned for up to five years.
http://www.njherald.com/article/20161103/AP/311039936#
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