Widodo Appeals for Calm at Second Jakarta Protest Against Ally
- Police arrest about 10 activists for questioning: spokesman
- Capital’s governor accused of blasphemy over Koran comments
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Indonesian President Joko Widodo sought to ease tension in the world’s most populous Muslim nation by appearing at a rally of more than 150,000 people seeking to jail Jakarta’s Christian governor, an ally of his, over blasphemy allegations.
The president, also known as Jokowi, along with his deputy Jusuf Kalla, joined the mass gathering for Friday prayers around the National Monument in Jakarta and appealed for calm. The police detained about 10 activists ahead of the protest, including eight on alleged treason charges, Rikwanto, a national police spokesman, said in a televised address.