Maluku govt website condemned for alleged defamation

M. Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post, Ambon

An estimated 2,000 protesters from several Islamic organizations held a protest at the Maluku Governor's office on Thursday over a local government website, which they said was defamatory toward Islam's Prophet Muhammad and included insinuations that Muslims in the province were terrorists.

The protesters, claiming to represent 20 Islamic organizations, demanded the police to investigate the case and the website (www.malukuprov.go.id) operators, accusing the creators of the site of abusing its function to condemn and insult a religion, the Republic of Indonesia and give the impression that it was made by the South Maluku Republic (RMS) and Maluku Sovereignty Front (FKM) supporters.

The controversy came to a head after a local newspaper in Ambon, Info Baru, criticized the website in an article on Wednesday. The website was blocked at 10 a.m. local time, 9 a.m. Jakarta time.

The controversial content was discovered on the website's guest book and discussion forum.

One forum contributor states, "... During the 1999-2002 riots, the provocateurs and their motives were not proven. (But) it has been proven that STAIN Ambon is the nest of a Mujahidin (group), which has trained militants in Maluku, The Philippines and in Afghanistan under the Taliban. They always blame FKM/RMS and it's proven that Islamists have caused the Maluku (conflicts)...."

Other messages were actually much harsh in their tone and accusations.

During the protest, several people condemned the forum contributors, especially those that insulted Muhammad.

"If there are those saying Muhamad Taufik is a loser or accusing Muhamad Attamimi of being terrorist, we can tolerate that, but if it's insulting to our Prophet, we won't back down at all. We'd rather die than see our Prophet insulted," yelled Taufik Narahubun, head of Indonesia Muslim Students (PII) in Maluku.

The protest nearly degenerated into violence as some of the protesters lost control of their emotions when the speaker mentioned that the Prophet was being insulted and Muslims were terrorists. But fellow protesters were able to cool them down.

Maluku Deputy Governor MA Latuconsina promised the protesters to immediately take necessary measures to correct the situation, since the governor, who is in Europe, had already assigned him to prepare a letter to the police to investigate the website's operators.