An Indonesian comedian has been sentenced to seven months in prison for blasphemy following a joke about the name Mohammed, a spokesperson for the office of the public prosecutor revealed on Tuesday.
The comedian, Aulia Rahman, joked in a café on Sumatra Island that the name had lost its positive meaning as wrongdoers often bear it, too. He was found guilty of defamation. According to the complainants, Rahman admitted to the offence and expressed remorse.
Mohammed, or Muhammad, is one of the most common names globally, especially in Muslim-majority countries.
Indonesia is home to the largest number of Muslims in the world.
Rahman’s sentence resulted from a law prohibiting remarks against any of Indonesia’s six official religions: Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism.
