Name: Muhammad Kace
Country/Area of Origin: Bali, Indonesia
Age: 56
Background: Muhammad Kace is a former Muslim cleric who converted to Christianity in 2014
Reason for Arrest:
Since his conversion to Christianity in 2014, Muhammad Kace has posted at least 400 video sermons on his YouTube account in which he criticizes Islam. In one of the videos which received widespread attention, Kace claimed that the Prophet Muhammad was a disciple of jinn [supernatural demonic spirits/creatures].
In late August 2021, while in hiding due to the backlash over his videos, Kace was arrested by Indonesian authorities in Bali and subsequently transported to the Criminal Investigation Headquarters in Jakarta for interrogation. Authorities charged Kace with blasphemy and disinformation under the Criminal Code and the Information and Electronic Transaction Act, and Kace faces up to six years’ imprisonment if convicted.
Latest Updates:
- 6 April 2022: West Java province’s Ciamis District Court judges sentenced Kace to 10 years’ imprisonment at the prosecutors’ request; reportedly, Muslim civilians surrounded the court building demanding even harsher punishments. Regarding the sentencing, Kace’s defense attorney Martin Lucas Simanjuntak stated that “in other such cases sentences have been lighter. We will appeal the verdict, or at the very least the sentence imposed on him”. Furthermore, Jesuit Father Johannes Hariyanto stated the following:
- “I am worried about the injustice implication for minority groups. It means that we [religious minorities] still struggle to achieve equality under the law. I actually don’t interfere in judicial affairs but I am left extremely disappointed by this decision”.
- December 2021: It was reported that Kace has been subjected to physical and mental torture in detention. One Indonesian police figure, Napoleon Bonaparte [not to be confused with French military and political leader of the same name], reportedly forced Kace to eat his own excrement as an act of “service of Allah and of Islam itself since it is allegedly a payback for the latter’s insults on the religion”. Moreover, prison officials repeatedly refused to permit Kace’s medical treatment for injuries sustained in detention.