Sensational Case: Indonesian Woman Imprisoned for Blasphemy on TikTok- Mocking Muslim Prayer and Consuming Pork

Palembang, Indonesia — A court in Indonesia has convicted a woman of inciting religious hatred and sentenced her to two years in prison for saying a Muslim prayer and then eating pork — considered forbidden in Islam — in a TikTok video.

In a shocking verdict on Tuesday, judges at Palembang court in South Sumatra province in Sumatra island handed Lina Lutfiawati, also known as Lina Mukherjee and self-identifies as Muslim, a two-year prison sentence and ordered her to pay a fine of 250 million rupiah ($16,262) in their blasphemy trial.

The controversial video, which was published in March, showed Lutfiawati reciting a brief prayer phrase that translates to “in the name of God” before eating a crispy pork skin.

After being charged with blasphemy, Lutfiawati expressed remorse and issued an apology on her social media last month. She reiterated her apology following the trial’s verdict.

“I am taken aback by the verdict. I have sincerely apologized numerous times. While I admit my mistake, I did not expect to receive a two-year sentence,” said Lutfiawati after the trial.

Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, deems pork consumption as “haram” or forbidden in Islam. The charge of inciting hatred against a religious group falls under blasphemy laws, which critics argue have been used to limit freedom of expression in Indonesia.

“The outcome for Lina is not surprising, despite the government’s assurance to preserve freedom of expression,” stated Usman Hamid, the Executive Director of Amnesty International Indonesia. He further pointed out that these laws have also been employed to target religious minorities.

In a previous incident in 2017, Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian, was sentenced to two years in prison after being found guilty of blasphemy for quoting a verse from the Koran during his re-election campaign speech. Similarly, in 2018, an Indonesian court sentenced an ethnic Chinese woman named Meiliana to 18 months in prison for blasphemy after she complained about a noisy mosque.