Islamic Organizations Urge Police to Drop Blasphemy Case Against Former VP Jusuf Kalla

A coalition of Islamic organizations, under the banner of the Alliance of Islamic Mass Organizations for Religious Harmony, has publicly called for the immediate cessation of all legal proceedings against former Vice President Jusuf Kalla (JK). The group contends that the accusations of religious blasphemy leveled against Kalla are entirely unfounded and politically motivated.

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We consider the report against Mr. JK to be fabricated, therefore we also ask the police to stop it immediately.

The controversy centers around a speech Kalla delivered at Gadjah Mada University on March 5, 2026. The alliance argues that certain social media figures, including Ade Armando, Permadi Arya, and Grace Natalie, deliberately framed Kalla's remarks by selectively editing and disseminating a truncated version of his speech. This manipulation, they claim, was done through platforms like Cokro TV's YouTube channel and Permadi's social media accounts, creating a distorted narrative that could disrupt inter-religious harmony.

In response to this alleged misinformation campaign, the alliance has filed a report with the National Police's Criminal Investigation Unit (Bareskrim Polri) against Armando, Arya, and Natalie for alleged incitement and hate speech. This action follows a separate report filed by the Central Leadership Council of the Indonesian Christian Youth Movement (DPP GAMKI) and other organizations against Kalla himself.

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They uploaded a video of Jusuf Kalla's speech at UGM, but the uploaded video was a cut version. They uploaded it through the Cokro TV YouTube channel and Permadi's Instagram and Facebook social media accounts.

Jusuf Kalla has since clarified his remarks, stating that his discussion of conflicts in Poso and Ambon during the speech was not intended to offend any religious group. He emphasized that neither Islam nor Christianity promotes violence, and his comments were aimed at illustrating how religious legitimacy had been misused by parties involved in those conflicts. From an Indonesian perspective, this case highlights the ongoing tension between freedom of expression, the potential for religious sensitivities to be exploited, and the role of social media in shaping public discourse. The swift action by the Islamic alliance underscores the community's vigilance in protecting religious figures from what they perceive as unfair persecution, while also seeking accountability for those who allegedly spread misinformation.

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There is no religious teaching that justifies killing each other, that is what I conveyed.