Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that Indonesian Tiktoker, Lina Lutfiawati, sentenced to 2 years in prison for reading Muslin phrase ‘Bismillah’ before eating pork in viral TikTok footage.
Taken aback by the verdict, she told a local news station that she knew that she made a mistake, but ”did not expect such a severe punishment.”
Notably, Ms Lutfiawati loves Bollywood movies and has also adopted the Indian name Lina Mukherjee. The influencer, who has more than two million TikTok followers, also runs a business in India.Â
The video quickly gained millions of views but was met with widespread criticism, leading to another Indonesian citizen reporting Lutfiawati to the police for “knowingly eating pork skin as a Muslim.” Subsequently, in May, she was charged with disseminating hateful information, with authorities alleging that her actions constituted an act of hostility based on ethnicity, religion, and race.
Conservative groups across Indonesia, including the Ulema Council, the country’s top Muslim clerical body, condemned the video as blasphemous. This condemnation intensified the debate over whether Lutfiawati’s actions warranted a prison sentence, especially when compared to the comparatively lenient sentences often given in corruption cases. In a controversial ruling, an Indonesian court has sentenced a prominent TikTok influencer Lina Lutfiawati to two years in jail for posting a viral video in which she uttered an Islamic phrase before consuming pork.
Lina Lutfiawati, 33, also known by the Indian name Lina Mukherjee, was found guilty of “inciting hatred” against religious individuals and groups, a verdict that has reignited the debate surrounding Indonesia’s stringent blasphemy laws.
Ms Lutfiawati was found guilty of “spreading information aimed at inciting hatred against religious individuals and specific groups” at a court on Tuesday in the South Sumatra city of Palembang, according to the verdict. She has also been ordered to pay a fine of $16,245 (Rs 13,48,111). If she fails to pay the money, her jail term may be extended by three months.
In the video, she was seen uttering a Muslim prayer that translates to “in the name of God”, before consuming pork skin. The clip was shot when she was traveling in Bali, and the influencer said that she tried pork out of curiosity. Many criticised her for “knowingly eating pork skin as a Muslim”, while conservative groups across the country issued rulings calling the video ”blasphemous”.
