Indonesian police in September began investigating Feby Indirani, the author of the short story collection Memburu Muhammad (Hunting for Muhammad), for alleged blasphemy after an Islamist group allegedly intervened with the organizers of a literary festival at which Indirani was to appear.
Bogor Literary Week organized an event featuring Indirani that was scheduled for September 20 but cancelled it days after the Front Persaudaraan Islam (Islamic Brotherhood Front, FPI) threatened to disrupt the discussion.
In response to a Human Rights Watch query, an Islamic Brotherhood Front representative neither confirmed nor denied the organization’s role in the cancellation of the event, stating: “In principle, FPI respects every citizen's right to express opinions and carry out activities guaranteed by the constitution. However, this right must also be exercised while respecting religious values, public beliefs, and the constitutional rights of others as regulated in the applicable laws.”
Indirani is a prominent author whose work often focuses on Islam, women’s rights issues, and marginalized groups. After the organizers cancelled her event, she faced a wave of sexualized and gendered online harassment, as did women who spoke up online to support her. Indirani told Human Rights Watch that these attacks sought “to silence women’s freedom to read, write, and express their opinions safely.”
The Jakarta Metropolitan Police said on September 24 that they would investigate Indirani after social media users alleged Memburu Muhammad was blasphemous. The Ministry of Religious Affairs said on September 25 that the book contained “sensitive material” that could “offend the beliefs of religious people.”
Prominent religious leaders have also called for a blasphemy investigation, including Amirsyah Tambunan, secretary general of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), an umbrella body for Islamic organizations and scholars in Indonesia, Anwar Abbas, chairman of the Muslim social organization Muhammadiyah, and Saifullah Yusuf, the social affairs minister and a Nahdlatul Ulama figure.
Under Indonesia’s new Criminal Code, the term “blasphemy” was replaced with a reformulated category of criminal offenses that outlaw acts or expressions of hostility against the religion or beliefs of other people or groups. It is punishable by up to five years in prison.
Indonesian authorities have an obligation to protect the right to freedom of expression, including from unlawful interference by non-state actors. The police should investigate harassment of the event organizers and Indirani—including online gendered harassment—rather than probing alleged blasphemy in a work of fiction.