Jozeph Paul Zhang's Hunt For Blasphemy Suspect Is Challenged By Jurisdiction

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

JAKARTA - The National Police's Head of Criminal Investigation Unit, Komjen Agus Andrianto, said the search for the suspect in the alleged blasphemy case, Jozeph Paul Zhang, was hampered by several things. One of them is jurisdiction.

"Jurisdiction constraints", said Komjen Agus when confirmed, Tuesday, August 24.

Jurisdiction is the power or legal competence of the state over people, objects, or events (law). For that reason, until now Jozeph Paul Zhang has not been arrested.

Due to these obstacles, Komjen Agus has not yet determined the next steps.

"What are we going to do?", said Komjen Agus.

Head of Criminal Investigation Unit previously took the effort to file a red notice against suspects suspected of being abroad. However, until now the red notice on behalf of Jozeph Paul Zhang aka 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.

In this case, Jozeph Paul Zhang has been named a suspect. He was charged with Article 156 Letter 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.