Indonesian comic gets 7 months jail for blasphemous joke about the name of prophet Muhammad

An Indonesian court has sentenced a comedian to seven months in prison for a joke he made about the name “Muhammad”, court documents showed, intensifying concerns over blasphemy laws in one of the world’s most populous Muslim nations.

Aulia Rakhman was found guilty of violating blasphemy laws after joking about the name of the Islamic prophet Muhammad during a performance in the Sumatran city of Lampung in December.

A video of his performance, widely shared on social media, showed him quipping that the holiness of the name was no longer valid given that so many people in prison were named Muhammad.

Many Indonesians are named Muhammad, after the prophet.

Human rights and free speech advocates have expressed concern over the interpretation of the blasphemy law, which has mostly been used against those deemed to have insulted Islam.

Usman Hamid, executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia, said the blasphemy article in the law has caused many “innocent people” to be jailed.

“We urge this article to be abolished,” he said.