Jakarta: An incendiary fake news report distributed via Australia and the US has added fuel to Indonesian jitters ahead of another huge demonstration on Friday calling for Jakarta's governor to be jailed.
The report claimed a Muslim hardliner behind the planned mass protests across the country was beaten up by army troops at his party's headquarters. It has been traced to websites hosted in Australia and the US.
For weeks demonstrators have been calling for Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, widely known as Ahok, to be jailed, with the police chief last week warning some groups had a "hidden agenda" to seize control of parliament during Friday's rally. Ahok is Christian and a member of the ethnic Chinese minority in Indonesia.
Authorities are bracing for hundreds of thousands of protesters at Monas, Indonesia's National Monument, just a month after a similar rally in the nation's capital turned ugly, with hundreds injured and cars torched. More than 20,000 military and police officers will provide security.
The Australian government issued a travel warning on Thursday strongly advising Australians to avoid all protests as "they may turn violent".
The hoax news report, which authorities feared would further inflame tensions, said that Islam Defenders Front leader Rizieq Shihab, one of the organisers of the demonstration, had been beaten up by army troops.
Indonesian National Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier General Wuryanto told Fairfax Media the fake news story had been traced to a poker website from Nobby Beach in Queensland and New Jersey in the US.
Asked if this was evidence of foreign influences trying to destabilise Indonesia as had been reported in local media, Brigadier Wuryanto said: "Well, all I can say is whoever they are, they they have the bad intention to do that."
Brigadier Wuryanto said the military had immediately followed up on reports that Rizieq had been beaten up by members of Kostrad, an Indonesian Army Corps.
When they were found to be false, information technology authorities were asked to check the source of the stories.
"The result of tracing shows the news was spread from two addresses in New Jersey US and Nobby Beach, Queensland, Australia," Brigadier Wuryanto said.
He said the website administrator had used a fake internet address and Tor (software that enables anonymous communication) that redirected to addresses overseas and used a foreign server.
"The information we got from the investigation is that the usage of Tor and a fake IP [internet protocol] address was to make an investigation difficult to do, given the website used was for online gambling," he said.
The Ministry of Communication and Information was told to block the websites, which were possibly operated by the same person.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani has also warned people not to follow suggestions intended to inflict damage, following a social media campaign calling for the withdrawal of savings from banks ahead of the rally.
Those attending Friday's protest want Ahok, to be jailed for allegedly insulting Islam.
Ahok sparked intense controversy when he told fishermen they were being deceived into not voting for him by his opponents, who used a Koranic verse that some interpret as meaning Muslims should not have a non-Muslim leader.
Ahok was named a blasphemy suspect following the November 4 rally, a decision many believe police made in order to stabilise a restless nation and stave off future protests.
He was ordered not to leave the country but was not detained because opinion was divided over whether his comments were blasphemous.
President Joko Widodo also cancelled a planned state visit to Australia at the eleventh hour and has spent much of the past month meeting with Islamic leaders, police, his political opponents and the military, and calling for calm.
On Thursday, Ahok accompanied police to the Attorney-General's office as his case dossier was formally handed over to prosecutors. If convicted of blasphemy he faces a maximum five years' jail.
The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) believes Ahok insulted both the Koran and ulemas (Muslim scholars) when he made his remarks.
MUI Deputy Secretary General Sholahuddin Al Ayuni told Fairfax Media that in the past blasphemy suspects had been immediately detained.
"Why is it different now? People's feeling of justice is disturbed by it," he said.
"The character of Indonesian people is that they can stand being pressured on many issues but when the issue is about religion, they cannot stand it."
Mr Sholahuddin said the police had agreed to take care of security at Friday's rally, which will be held between 8am and 1pm local time.
"In this light, I think the December 2 rally will not only be peaceful, it will be super peaceful," he said.
