JAKARTA: Police have named a member of the God’s Kingdom of Eden sect a suspect in a religious blasphemy case.
Sect leader Lia Aminuddin was arrested earlier in the same case and she will soon stand trial.
Central Jakarta Police chief Comr. Bambang Hermanu said Saturday that sect member Abdul Rahman was arrested Thursday and was now in detention.
Abdul was previously questioned as a witness in Lia’s case. Police said Abdul believed he was the reincarnation of the Prophet Muhammad.
Abdul’s lawyer Saor Siagian from the Religious Freedom Advocacy Team protested his client’s arrest.
“The police should have notified us before the arrest. We deplore this unprofessional action. We have been cooperative in their investigation,” he said.
Police dispersed a sect gathering at its headquarters in Central Jakarta last month, following complaints from neighbors about the sect‘s teachings.