Jakarta awaits another mass protest against governor

By Ainur Rohmah

TUBAN, Indonesia (AA) - Hundreds of thousands of Indonesians are again flocking to Jakarta where they plan to hold a peaceful protest against the capital's governor who is accused of insulting Islam.

Friday's event is the latest in a wave of protesters to descend on the capital to demand the acceleration of legal proceedings against Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama.

On Thursday, Police Chief Inspector General Muhammad Iriawan said that a passive 3000-man strong army and police force would spread across the capital Friday, including the protest site and nearby offices.

"All personnel securing the protest will be unarmed," detik.com quoted him as saying.

A member of the protest organizing committee, Zaitun Rasmin, told Anadolu Agency that he expected the event to be a "super peaceful action" and urged for Ahok to be detained.

A Nov. 4 100,000-strong protest in Jakarta descended into chaos, while Ahok -- despite being named a suspect after a lengthy investigation -- remains free but unable to leave the country.

Rasmin said that Friday's protest will only be filled with prayers and remembrance, and there would be no mass processions along the main streets as was the case in November.

From 8 a.m., (0100GMT), at least 700,000 protesters are expected to gather near the capital's national monument area until mid-day.

"We will sit down, read the Quran, listen to speeches from clerics and hold the Friday prayer,” Rasmin said by phone.

"After that, we will all go home."

Ahok is accused of publicly insulting Islam, however he says he was calling for people not to be “deceived” by those using one of Quran's verses, Al Maidah: Chapter 51, not that the verse itself was insulting.

Around 13 different parties have since reported him to the police on charges of defamation.

After the Nov. 4 protest, police sped up the blasphemy probe and named Ahok as a suspect, but he was not detained.

On Thursday, the Attorney General's Office said it had also decided not to place the governor in custody.

"According to our procedure, if the police investigators do not detain the suspect, neither do we,” spokesman Muhammad Rum was quoted as saying by kompas.com.

He said that the case would be handed over to the court as soon as possible.

Ahok -- who could face up to five years in prison if convicted -- told reporters Thursday that he hopes the case will be resolved soon so he can return to working for the people of Jakarta.

“I am begging for your prayers to have this legal process be fair and transparent," kompas quoted him as saying.