On Monday morning (23/01) hundreds of Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) members conducted a protest march from the Al Azhar Mosque in South Jakarta to Police headquarters on Jalan Sudirman in Central Jakarta to protest against the questioning of FPI leader Rizieq Shihab. Jakarta Police summoned the FPI leader for questioning regarding a speech that was published on the FPI's YouTube channel.

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Rising religious tensions not only rise in Indonesia due to the blasphemy trial of Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) but also due to a recently issued edict by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), Indonesia's highest Islamic clerical body. This edict prohibits Muslims to wear Christmas clothes and accessories and primarily aims at those Muslims who work in shopping malls where many restaurant and shop owners make their staff dress up in "Christmas-spirit".

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Rizieq Shihab, leader of the Islamic Defenders Front (in Indonesian: Front Pembela Islam, or FPI), has been named a suspect of insulting the Pancasila (Indonesia's state ideology) by the West Java branch of Indonesian Police on Monday (30/01). Sukmawati Sukarnoputri, daughter of Indonesia's first president Sukarno, had filed a police report against Shihab after a speech surfaced in which the latter insulted and criticized the Pancasila as well as national hero Sukarno.

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Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (better known as Ahok) has been inaugurated as the 17th Governor of Jakarta by Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Wednesday (19/11) The position of Jakarta Governor was previously empty as former Governor Widodo stepped down from this position to focus on a (successful) presidential campaign. Although by law the Deputy Governor (Ahok) automatically becomes the new Governor, this has met fierce resistance from certain sides as Ahok is an ethnic Chinese Christian. This news article is the updated version of an article that was first published on 18 November 2014

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