Indonesian editor accused of blasphemy over IS cartoon

The chief editor of a leading English-language newspaper in Muslim-majority Indonesia has been named a suspect in a blasphemy case after the publication of a cartoon about the Islamic State group, police said Friday. The Jakarta Post's Meidyatama Suryodiningrat could be jailed for up to five years if found guilty, and is the latest person to face action under the country's tough blasphemy laws that have been criticised by rights groups as overly harsh and outdated.
The cartoon, published in the paper on July 3, shows a man raising a flag emblazoned with the Arabic phrase "There is no God but Allah" over a picture of a skull and crossbones, with armed fighters in the background. Following an outcry from Islamic groups, the Jakarta Post issued a front-page apology and retracted the cartoon five days later, insisting it was meant to "critique the use of religious symbols" and as a "reproach" to IS, a brutal Islamist group which holds vast swathes of territory across Syria and Iraq.