Two years in prison for saying "Bismillah" before eating pork
An Indonesian court has sentenced a woman to two years in prison for saying "Bismillah" before eating pork.
"Lutfiawati" was sentenced to two years in prison and $16,262 in fines by an Indonesian court for eating pork and using the word "Bismillah" before it.
A video has been posted on the social network TikTok in which Lotfiawati (Lena Mukherjee) recites "Bismillah" before eating pork. The video received many views and widespread reactions, so an Indonesian court sentenced her to two years in prison and a fine of $16,262 on charges of "inciting religious hatred."
After the trial, Lotfiawati expressed regret on social media, saying: "I am shocked. I apologized many times, in fact I know I was wrong, but I did not expect the court sentence to be two years in prison."
Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-majority country, where eating pork is forbidden under Islam, and the charge of "inciting religious hatred" is part of blasphemy laws that critics of the Indonesian government use as a restriction on freedom of expression.
"What happened to Lina is not surprising, despite the government's promises to protect freedom of expression," said Osman Hamid, Amnesty International's executive director for Indonesia. "These laws are also used to target religious minorities, such as Christians."
It should be noted that Basuki Tahaja Purnama, the Christian governor of Jakarta, was also sentenced to two years in prison in 2017 on charges of blasphemy for citing a verse from the Quran during an election speech.
