Medan court sends YouTuber to jail for blasphemy


The Medan District Court in North Sumatra is pictured in this file photo. (PN Medan/File)

MEDAN (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network): The Medan District Court in North Sumatra sentenced a YouTuber to one year in prison on Thursday (Feb 23) for blasphemy against Islam. State prosecutors had demanded a 1.5-year penalty.

Presiding judge Sulhanuddin said defendant Rudi Simamora had been found guilty of violating a provision in the 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law that forbids hate speech against any ethnicity, religion or race or that attacks inter-group relations. Violations carry a maximum prison term of 10 years.

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Indonesia , blasphemy , Medan , court

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