Kyai Village Forum Planning To Report Zulhas' Joke About Prayers To The Yogyakarta Regional Police

Minister of Trade and Chairman of PAN, Zulkifli Hasan eyebrows Zulhas. (Instagram @zul.hasan)

YOGYAKARTA - Minister of Trade (Mendag) as well as General Chairperson (Ketum) of PAN, Zulkifli Hasan alias Zulhas will be reported allegations of blasphemy at the Yogyakarta Special Region Police (DIY) regarding prayers.

The Coordinator of the Kyai Kampung Nusantara Forum (FORKKAMNU) who is also the caretaker of the Islamic Boarding School, Ibnu Hadi, Jaroh, said that his party strongly criticized Zulhas' joke about praying during the National Working Meeting (Rakernas) of the Indonesian Market Traders Association (APPSI) in Semarang City. He said he would immediately report Zulhas to the Yogyakarta Regional Police.

"We strongly condemn Zulkifli Hasan's statement which has hurt even the hearts of Muslims. Therefore, we explicitly report legally to the Yogyakarta Regional Police," said Jaroh in a written statement received Friday, December 22.

The Legal Aid Institute (LBH) Arya Wiraraja, represented by Musthafa, expressed readiness to assist FORKKAMNU in taking legal action.

Musthafa said that after observing Zulhas repeatedly in the video clip, they concluded the alleged blasphemy and spread false news.

"We from LBH Arya Wiraraja are always ready 24 hours and all out in defending the human rights of Muslims. After seeing and playing videos of Zulkifli Hasan's speech many times, we agreed that Zulkifli Hasan's brother should be suspected of having committed blasphemy and fake news," Musthafa said when contacted Friday, December 22.

Musthafa also detailed articles that might involve Zulkifli Hasan, such as Article 156a of the Criminal Code and Law Number 1 of 1946 Article 14 paragraph (1), as well as the ITE Law Number 19 of 2016 Article 28 paragraphs 1 and 2 in conjunction with Article 45.

"In addition to the above, we have given Zulkifli Hasan 3x24 the opportunity to apologize and withdraw his statement so that Muslims do not get further ignited. However, there was no significant response so that in the end we took legal action and reported Zulkifli Hasan to the Yogyakarta Regional Police with a minimum suspicion or at least 7 articles so that the situation would not be more cloudy and ridden by political matters," he said.

In addition to FORKKAMNU, the Anti-Religious Blasphemy Indonesia Forum (FIAPA) also plans to report allegations of blasphemy against Zulhas to the Karanganyar Police.

Zulhas joked about praying during his speech at the APPSI National Working Meeting in Semarang City, Tuesday, December 19.

In his speech, Zulhas observed the fanatical group associated with the presidential and vice presidential candidate pair Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka. He said that when they performed the prayer, they did not dare to say 'Amen' after the priest read the letter Al Fatihah. In addition, Zulhas also mentioned that at the end of the tasyahud, the finger that was inserted was not one but two.