A Muslim cleric, Panji Gumilang, 77, has been arrested by the police on charges of blasphemy and hate speech in Indonesia after allowing women to preach and pray beside men in Indonesia.
National Police official, Djuhandhani Rahardjo, in Jakarta, said that Gumilang who runs Al-Zaytun boarding school in the district of Indramayu in West Java, was arrested on Tuesday, CNN reported on Thursday.
In recent times, the boarding school with estimated 5,000 students, has faced public backlash over its practices like allowing men and women to pray alongside each other and women to become imams.
Unlike other Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia, during prayer sessions, Al-Zaytun Boarding School does not follow gender segregation.
Rahardjo said, “Investigators took legal action and Gumilang will be detained in the Criminal Investigation Agency’s detention facility for 20 days based on public complaints”.
The cleric’s lawyer, Hendra Effendy, had called for calm from his supporters.
Effendy said, “He is, after all, a public figure with millions of supporters… With all this happening, we don’t know what could happen”.
Gumilang’s supporter who did not wish to be named said, it’s “unjust” and reflective of the country’s turn towards the religious right.
Indonesia’s Islamic Clerical Council in June said it was investigating Al-Zaytun for “misguided religious practices and will face a maximum of 10 years in prison if found guilty of blasphemy and hate speech.
