[DageDage]

Rp 470 BILLION class action lawsuit filed against Ahok on behalf of all Muslims in Indonesia

Earlier this week, FPI leader Habib Novel filed a civil lawsuit against Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama for Rp 204 million to cover cost of his own private investigation into Ahok’s blasphemy case. Yesterday, yet another lawsuit against the governor was filed - a Rp 407 billion class action lawsuit that its initiators assert is being filed on behalf of all Muslims in Indonesia.

The lawsuit was filed by Ali Lubis, the vice chairman of the lawyers group Advokat Cinta Tanah Air (ACTA). Another member of ACTA, Gerindra Party politician and lawyer Habiburokhman, filed the other lawsuit against Ahok on behalf of Novel.

"The group being represented in this lawsuit is all Indonesian citizens who are Muslims, and the group’s representative is Ali Hakim Lubis, an Indonesian Muslim citizen," ACTA lawyer Ali Nurhayati said yesterday as quoted by Detik.

Nurhayati said the lawsuit is based on Article 98 of the Criminal Code which allow victims of crime to demand compensation for their cases. He did not specify what material damages Ahok’s alleged blasphemy caused to all Muslims in Indonesia, but Nurhayati did say his team was ready to corroborate the claim with evidence, witnesses and experts.

The ACTA lawyer said the lawsuit’s key demand was compensation amounting to Rp 470 billion. It also asks that Ahok be forced to purchase advertisements in nine national newspapers to issue an apology to all Muslims (despite the fact that there are already literally thousands of new stories about his numerous past apologies already).

"[We are asking that] that the defendant be punished by paying damages to the plaintiff for material losses amounting to Rp 470 billion that would be distributed to all members of the group in the form of Muslim worship facilities that would be coordinated by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) in every major city throughout Indonesia," Nurhayati said.

To say that this civil lawsuit is on behalf of all Muslims in Indonesia seems like quite a stretch, considering that less than half of all Indonesians believe Ahok actually committed blasphemy. We’re also wondering how exactly Ahok’s words could have possibly caused Rp 470 billion worth of material damages to Muslims, unless ACTA is planning to argue that Ahok should be held responsible for the costs of organizing the massive protests against him.

Which wouldn’t be a very surprising argument for them to make, considering that they also think Ahok should repay Habib Novel for the money the FPI leader spent privately investigating Ahok’s alleged crime.