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Indonesia names Islamist leader a suspect in pornography case

By REUTERS

MAY 29, 2017 13:49

JAKARTA - Indonesian police on Monday named an Islamist leader as a suspect in the exchange of pornographic messages and photos, a new legal threat to a cleric who helped organize mass Muslim rallies against Jakarta's former Christian governor.

Habib Rizieq, a firebrand cleric who heads the hardline Islamic Defenders Forum (FPI), has also been made a suspect in a separate investigation over allegations he insulted the secular state ideology in the Muslim-majority nation.

President Joko Widodo appears to be taking a tougher stance against fundamentalism and has said he would not tolerate any individuals or organizations that undermine the secular state ideology "Pancasila", or threaten Indonesia's tradition of pluralism.

Religious and political tensions have soared in the last six months with Islamist-led rallies targeting the Jakarta governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, an ethnic Chinese Christian who was jailed this month for insulting the Koran.

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