Police Name Suspect in Al-Quran Burning Case

Kepala Satreskrim Polres Lombok Tengah Iptu Redho Rizky Pratama. (ANTARA/Dhimas B.P.)

MATARAM - Investigators from the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Central Lombok Resort Police, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) have named a suspect in the case of burning an interpretation of the Koran which was broadcast through Habib Fitria's YouTube channel.

The head of the Central Lombok Criminal Investigation Unit Police, Iptu Redho Rizky Pratama, said the suspect, in this case, had the initials SH, a man from Pringgarata.

"So the suspect is the owner of a YouTube account, he is the one who uploaded the video and he is the one who is talking about sharing SARA issues through his channel", said Redho as reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, September 14.

As a suspect, SH is suspected of Article 28 paragraph 2 Jo Article 45 paragraph 2 of Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 19/2016 concerning amendments to Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 11/2008 concerning Information and Electronic Transactions.

To note, Article 28 paragraph 2 of the Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 19/2016 concerning the amendment to the Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 11/2008 concerning Information and Electronic Transactions regulates the issue of hate speech that causes SARA.

The criminal threat of this allegation is implied in Article 45 Paragraph 2 of the Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 19/2016 concerning amendments to the Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 11/2008 concerning Information and Electronic Transactions with a maximum sentence of 6 years in prison and a fine of IDR 1 billion.

The determination of SH as a suspect, he explained, has gone through a series of investigations. One of the pieces of evidence that strengthen the determination of SH as a suspect comes from expert testimony.

"Those are experts from the criminal field, the Ministry of Communication and Informatics regarding the ITE Law, and also from the MUI (Indonesian Ulema Council)", he said.

The suspect admitted to investigators that he uploaded the video by believing that Muslims did not learn from the book of interpretation of the Koran.

"According to his personal opinion, Islam must return to the Koran, that's what motivated him to make videos like that", he said.

Regarding the role of two of SH's colleagues who also appeared in the video of the burning, it was confirmed that Redho was still a witness. His party is still exploring the role of each witness from a series of examinations.

The video of the burning of the Qur'anic commentary was broadcast on Habib Fitria's YouTube channel on August 28, 2022. In the video, SH and two of his colleagues demonstrated the act of burning the interpretation of the Qur'an.