Chasing Jozeph Paul Zhang To Germany

Karo Penmas, National Police Public Relations Division Brigadier General Rusdi Hartono (Photo: Police Public Relations)

JAKARTA - The National Police is coordinating with Interpol to trace the whereabouts of Jozeph Paul Zhang, who claims to be the 26th prophet. This was done so that Jozpeh could be immediately arrested to be investigated in the alleged case of blasphemy.

The National Police Public Relations Division, Brigadier General Rusdi Hartono, said, not only with Interpol but in this case, the National Police also coordinated with other agencies. For example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Directorate General of Immigration, Ministry of Law, and Human Rights.

"Because it is reasonable to suspect that the person concerned is abroad. So far, the investigation of the Police concerned is in Germany", Rusdi told reporters, Monday, April 19.

In fact, to trace the exact location of Jozeph Paul Zhang who is suspected of being in Germany, the Police have also coordinated with the German Embassy in Jakarta and the German police attaché.

Rusdi confirmed the National Police's steps in handling this case by issuing a wanted list for Jozeph Paul Zhang. The issuance of DPOs (People Search List) will be the basis for Interpol to issue red notices.

"DPO will soon be issued by The Criminal Investigation Unit, the elements of the articles that can be subject to hate speech in the ITE Law and also blasphemy in the Criminal Code, subject to the ITE Law, especially Article 28 paragraph 2, then The Criminal Code on Blasphemy of Religion is article 156 letter a", explained Brigadier General Rusdi.

Based on information from the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Jozeph Paul Zhang has been outside the territory of Indonesia since 2018. The man who was registered with the name Shindy Paul Soerjomoeljono last left Indonesia for Hong Kong on January 11.

On the other hand, Rusdi emphasized that the Criminal Investigation Police's Cyber Directorate actually had monitored the video of Jozeph Paul Zhang with alleged defamation. In fact, the video was monitored before it went viral and attracted the attention of the public.

"What is clear is that the monitor is about the video, and at this time, the Cyber Crime Criminal Investigation Directorate has been monitoring the video for the video", said Brigadier General Rusdi

The team from the Cyber Crime Directorate takes certain steps. However, it was not explained that this step was an act of action or something else.

"Before the virus has been monitored, when it is viral in the community, of course, the Police have taken steps ahead of that", he said.

Besides, for the current handling process, the National Police has examined experts regarding the video of Jozeph Paul Zhang, which is considered defamatory of religion. Experts questioned were linguists, sociologists of law, and criminal experts.

The examination of this expert witness was carried out while the other team was investigating the whereabouts of Jozeph Paul Zhang. So, the settlement of this case is faster.

"Of course, this expert witness testimony is very useful for investigators to ascertain the case that occurred", he said.

Meanwhile, through a discussion forum via Zoom, Jozeph Paul Zhang claimed to be the 26th prophet. The video was also shown on his personal YouTube channel.

The man opened a zoom discussion forum entitled "Puasa Lalim Islam". Jozeph Paul Zhang also challenges anyone who dares to report himself to the police regarding blasphemy by claiming to be the 26th prophet.