Jozeph Paul Zhang's Red Notice Request For Blasphemy Suspect Not Responded By Interpol

Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the National Police, Komjen Agus Andrianto/ANTARA

JAKARTA - The request for a red notice for the suspect in the alleged blasphemy case, Jozeph Paul Zhang, was not responded to by Interpol. As a result, pursuit and arrest efforts were hampered.

"Our jurisdiction is constrained," said the Indonesian National Police's Criminal Investigation Officer, Komjen Agus Andrianto, quoted by Antara, Wednesday, August 19 evening.

Since Jozeph Paul Zhang's video has gone viral on social media for claiming to be the 26th prophet, the National Police has processed the case, then determined the person concerned as a suspect, and then hunted for his whereabouts.

Furthermore, the Bareskrim Polri took an effort to apply for a red notice against suspects suspected of being abroad. However, until now the red notice on behalf of Jozeph Paul Zhang alias Shindy Paul Soerjomoelyono has not been published.

According to Agus, Jozeph has left Indonesia and settled in a country that is not under the jurisdiction of the National Police, such as the Netherlands and Germany.

Agus said his party was still waiting for confirmation from the local state authorities suspected of being Jozeph Paul Zhang's current residence.

Until now, the Bareskrim Polri is still waiting for the results of coordination through Interpol and diplomatic channels. However, there is still no progress.

"Yes, waiting because there is no progress from Interpol either, through diplomatic channels there has also been no progress," said Agus.

The National Police are trying to take action against the perpetrators of blasphemy Jozeph Paul Zhang or Shindy Paul Soerjomoelyono brow JPZ or SPS who were declared to have left Indonesia for Hong Kong since January 11, 2018.

The Criminal Investigation Unit of the National Police has named Jozeph Paul Zhang as a suspect and published a wanted list (DPO).

The Secretariat of the National Central Bureau (NCB) Indonesia has sent a request for the issuance of a red notice to the Central Interpol located in Lyon, France.

Investigators set two articles at once for the suspect, namely Article 156 Letter a of the Criminal Code on blasphemy and Article 28 Paragraph (2) of the Law on Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE) with a threat of 5 years in prison.

Previously, a viral video of a YouTuber named Jozeph Paul Zhang claiming to be the 26th prophet was conveyed in a zoom discussion forum broadcast on his personal YouTube channel with the theme "Islamic despotism".

In the video, Jozeph makes a contest for anyone who reports it to the police by claiming to be the 26th prophet.