Joke about Muhammad lands Indonesian comedian in prison for seven months – Firstpost

A local legal official said Tuesday that a court in Muslim-majority Indonesia sentenced a comedian to seven months in prison for blasphemy after he made a joke about the name of Muhammad.

Aulia Rakhman, a comedian from Sumatra’s Lampung province, was found guilty of spreading hate through stand-up comedy at an event in December, Lampung prosecutor’s office spokesman Ricky Ramadhan told AFP.

Aulia reportedly joked at a cafe in the provincial capital of Bandar Lampung, saying that names like Muhammad – inspired by Islam’s founding prophet – have lost their positive connotations due to the huge number of misbehaving Indonesians who share them.

Muhammad is one of the most popular male names in the most populous Muslim-majority nation in the world.

Aulia was imprisoned after filing a report under the blasphemy law, which carries a maximum penalty of five years. Prosecutors demanded eight months in prison for Auli.

The law prohibits anyone from making statements that contradict one of Indonesia’s six official religions or from trying to prevent someone from practicing one of those religions.

Aulia was found guilty last week, but the verdict did not take effect until Tuesday.

“The defendant admitted and regretted his actions, was polite at trial, and was never convicted,” Ricky said.

“The aggravating factor was that the defendant’s actions caused public concern.”

The comedian’s imprisonment is the latest in a series of blasphemy cases in the country.

In 2022, Indonesian police arrested six people on blasphemy charges over a bar chain’s promotion of free alcohol to customers named Muhammad.

Former Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, better known as Ahok, was sentenced to almost two years in prison in 2017 on controversial blasphemy charges.

Human rights organizations have long campaigned against laws they believe are often abused against religious minorities.