Thousands of Indonesians join protest in Jakarta

Indonesian Muslims protest against Jakarta’s Governor (Photo: voanews.com)

Jakarta (VNA) – More than 100,000 conservative Muslims in Indonesia joined a protest on December 2 against Jakarta’s Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama.

Over 20,000 security personnel were deployed to prevent the rally from turning violent. This is the second large protest against Governor Purnama, demanding the arrest or prosecution of the governor for allegedly insulting Islam during election campaigns.

The first protest on November 4 drew about 50,000 people, and it turned into a clash when demonstrators set fire to police cars and threw bottles in the city’s centre. At least three police cars were burnt while one person was killed and dozens of people were injured, including police officers.

Purnama is the first Christian to be the Governor of Jakarta, the capital city of the Muslim-majority country.-VNA