Indonesian comedian summoned by police over Netflix show

JAKARTA: A prominent Indonesian comedian who became the first from his country to air a special on Netflix was summoned by police on Friday over what they called public complaints about the material he used in his stand-up act.

Pandji Pragiwaksono’s show appeared on Netflix on December 27 and included satirical comments on Indonesian politics and democracy, including the 2024 election.

The election was won by former military general Prabowo Subianto, who has now become president of the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.

Pragiwaksono also criticised Indonesia’s two largest Muslim organisations, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, for receiving a mining concession from the government when Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi, was still president. Jokowi’s son was Prabowo’s running mate, and went on to become vice president.

The nearly two-and-a-half-hour show has divided opinion in Indonesia. Some have accused the comedian of insulting religious entities and state institutions, while democracy activists have defended him.

“Yes, today we are clarifying several things based on five police reports,” Andaru Rahutomo, spokesperson for Jakarta police, told Reuters, confirming that Pragiwaksono was in their custody. Pragiwaksono has not been formally charged.

Two of the five police reports were filed by members of the youth wings of Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, complaining that the comedian had committed blasphemy and defamed their organisations.

Both organisations denied affiliation with the people who filed the police reports.

“We came here for clarification… He (Pragiwaksono) is already here, perhaps he can share his version of the story with the police,” Haris Azhar, Pragiwaksono’s lawyer, said before the hour-long interrogation began.