Two Suspects in Qur'an Memorisation Challenge Case Detained by Police
Police have detained two suspects in connection with a Qur’an memorisation challenge that offered alcoholic beverages as a reward at The Sounds Project music festival in Ancol, North Jakarta.
The two suspects are a woman with the initials R and a man with the initials E.
“The blasphemy suspects have now been detained at the North Jakarta Metro Police headquarters,” said Acting North Jakarta Police Chief, Senior Commissioner Oki Waskito, to journalists on Wednesday (12/8).
Oki said that investigators will now hold a case conference to elevate the matter to the formal investigation stage.
“The plan is to hold it tonight, or at the latest tomorrow, because there is a 24-hour window from this morning to determine whether to proceed to investigation,” he said.
Previously, a promotional activity allegedly involving alcoholic beverages under the guise of a Qur’an memorisation challenge at The Sounds Project music festival, held last weekend on Sunday (9/8) in North Jakarta, went viral on social media.
In the viral video, a visitor recorded a moment at an alcohol brand booth that offered a challenge to memorise one of the surahs in the Qur’an, namely Ad-Duha, in exchange for what was believed to be a bottle of the promoted alcoholic beverage.
In a post on the official Instagram account of The Sounds Project, the organiser also spoke out about the incident.
“We as the event organiser are also angry, disappointed, and condemn this behaviour. We have never, and will never, condone behaviour that uses religion as material for a challenge or product promotion in any form,” read the official statement quoted from The Sounds Project’s Instagram account.
“We emphasise that this incident was entirely outside our direction, approval, and control as the event organiser,” it added.
Meanwhile, the master of ceremonies at the Newport booth during The Sounds Project event has also issued a public apology. This was conveyed through the Threads social media account aqueer_, owned by Revnaldo Ega.
“I, Ega, as the MC of the Newport booth on Sunday, 9 August 2026, apologise for the incident that occurred during the event,” he said.
“The incident was a spontaneous act by audience members and was not related to Newport. I acknowledge my negligence in controlling the situation and will use this as a lesson to be more alert and responsible in the future,” he added.
Newport’s management has also issued an apology over the uproar following the alcohol promotion case.
Newport Director Handoko Sasongko claimed that the activity was not a programme, promotional concept, challenge, or directive created or planned by Newport. He also claimed that the activity emerged spontaneously from visitors at the location.
“We regret the negligence in on-site supervision, which allowed actions that are inconsistent with the religious values, beliefs, culture, and customs upheld by society to occur,” he said.