Spokesperson's Response on JK Being Reported to Police Over UGM Lecture
The spokesperson for former Vice President Jusuf Kalla (JK), Husain Abdullah, stated that the complainants should first examine the content of JK’s lecture before reporting it. Previously, several organisations reported JK over his statements during a lecture at the Gadjah Mada University Mosque.
He said that the viral lecture on social media was incomplete and deviated from the substance.
“Before reporting, it is best to carefully review the viral content, as it is clipped and given a narrative that deviates from its substance,” he said when contacted on Monday, 13 April 2026.
Husain mentioned that the core message of JK’s lecture at UGM on 5 March 2026 was a form of lesson for reconciling two conflicting parties. JK, he said, expressed the views of the conflicting parties during the Poso and Ambon riots. “Or the sociological reality during the conflict,” he said.
According to him, both conflicting parties used religious jargon to kill each other. For both sides, killing the opponent or being killed would lead to paradise.
“Therefore, the Poso and Ambon conflicts are called SARA-tinged conflicts. Which are difficult to stop,” he said.
To address it, Husain said, JK provided understanding that the conflicting groups needed to be straightened out. JK considered that both were mistaken by deviating from religious teachings.
“So, Mr JK said you all will go to hell if you kill each other, not to paradise,” he said. “Because no religion teaches to act that way,” he added.
Therefore, Husain stated, JK’s opinion was not a personal view, but the social reality that developed during that conflict.
“JK conveyed a lesson learned. Narrating the approach he took when trying to reconcile two conflicting parties in Poso or Ambon, by first changing the paradigm that motivated them during the conflict,” he said.
The Central Board of the Indonesian Christian Youth Movement (DPP GAMKI), the Expert Council of the Indonesian Christian Community Assembly (MUKI), the Indonesian Pastors Association (API), the Pluralism Community Struggle Movement, the Central Board of Si Pitung, and the Central Board of Horas Bangso Batak reported Jusuf Kalla to the Metro Jaya Regional Police. They reported JK over his statements in the UGM Mosque lecture.
Martin assessed that JK’s speech in that forum caused polemic and unrest. “We are reporting to the Metro Jaya Police so that this statement, which has caused uproar in society and on social media, can be directed and then resolved legally,” he said in a written statement on Monday, 13 April 2026.
The complainants submitted the report on Sunday night, 12 April 2026. The report was registered with numbers LP/B/2547/IV/2026/SPKT/POLDA METRO JAYA, LP/B/2546/IV/2026/SPKT/POLDA METRO JAYA, and LP/B/2550/2026/SPKT/POLDA METRO JAYA dated 12 April 2026.