Police have named former minister Roy Suryo as a suspect for digitally manipulating a photograph of a Buddhist statue at Borobudur Temple to make it resemble President Joko Widodo and posting it on Twitter.
The former youth and sports minister underwent questioning as a suspect in the case on Friday, chief of the public relations division of the Jakarta Metropolitan Police, Senior Commissioner Endra Zulpan, said here on Friday.
“It is true (he is being) questioned by the Jakarta Metropolitan Police today as a suspect,” he said.
Despite being named a suspect, Suryo has not been detained, he added.
A representative of Buddhists reported Suryo to the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) over a hate speech related to ethnicity, religion, and race (SARA).
The representative also attached a printout of the edited photo from the Twitter account @KRMTRoySUryo2 with the report to Bareskrim.
Suryo reportedly posted the edited photo of the Buddhist statue on June 10, 2022, to protest against the government’s decision to raise entry tickets to Borobudur Temple in Magelang district, Central Java. The government later revoked the decision.
Suryo later withdrew the post, which had sparked a controversy, and apologized to Buddhists.
Source: Antara News