Indonesia Detains Influencer For ‘Blasphemy Against Jesus’
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
MEDAN, INDONESIA (Worthy News) – Indonesian police have detained a social media influencer for blasphemy against Jesus while Christians face growing pressure in the world’s largest Muslim nation, sources told Worthy News.
Ratu Talisha (RT), also known as Ratu Entok, is an internet celebrity in Medan, the capital of Indonesia’s North Sumatra province, because of the videos she posts on the Instagram platform.
“As a suspect in a viral video, she is telling Jesus to cut his hair so that he doesn’t look like a woman,” investigators said. “This time, it seems that Muslims want to defend Christians,” a church worker in Medan told Worthy News.
Worthy News did not publish the name of the Christian source amid security concerns.
Authorities said she was detained Wednesday by the North Sumatra Police Cyber Directorate.
“Based on the case investigation results, RT was named a suspect. [As she could face] more than five years [imprisonment], the person concerned was also detained starting tonight,” added Senior Police Commissioner Hadi Wahyudi in published remarks.
Hadi Wahyudi explained that Ratu Entok “was forcibly picked up by investigators from her home this [Wednesday] afternoon.” She “was charged under Information and Electronic Transactions” legislation, the police official added.
SHAVING HAIR
Previously, a video of Ratu Entok allegedly committing blasphemy “went viral on social media,” police said. Residents then reported the video to the North Sumatra Police. Several sources confirmed.
“Don’t resemble a woman; your hair must be shaved, hmmm, like a monk, maybe. You shave, heh, you shave your hair, okay,” the woman purportedly told Jesus on Instagram.
“Don’t resemble a woman; you shave, shave it so you look like her father. Shave it. If it’s a man, his hair must be bald; shave it short, shave it hey,” the celebrity allegedly said.
Worthy News wasn’t able to verify the video footage independently.
Yet the controversy over the footage comes after several churches, as well as private Bible study and prayer meetings, were earlier attacked or threatened by Muslim extremists, Worthy News established.
There is debate about whether a detention for blasphemy will ease tensions, and critics argue that Jesus Himself did not resist when He was detained, mocked, and sentenced to death.
SITUATION WORSENING
The situation for Christians has been deteriorating in recent years, with Indonesian society increasingly influenced by conservative interpretations of Islam, according to rights investigators and local Christians.
“Polls regularly show that especially young people hold conservative views, and by-laws on Islamic dress are becoming more common,” said advocacy group Open Doors.
Converts from Islam and devoted Christians are especially facing pressure and attacks from their families and authorities, several sources told Worthy News.
“Sometimes I hear my schoolmates saying things like, ‘Hey if you remain, Christian, you will also be crucified just as your Jesus was crucified.’They poke fun at us Christians in that way. I don’t take offense. I’m just used to hearing this,” a young Christian named as Raymond said.
Indonesia ranks 42 on the Open Doors annual World Watch List of 50 nations where it says Christians face the most persecution.
Christianity is observed by just over 10 percent of Indonesia’s roughly 282 million people, who are mainly Muslim, according to data cited by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Several church leaders have told Worthy News that the real number of “born-again” believers in Christ, referring to those who chose to become Christians, is millions higher than official data shows.
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