The Representatives of the French Embassy in Jakarta “Speechless” Debating With HTI Over the Issue of Freedom of Speech

HTI Press, Jakarta. Hizb-ut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) staged a protest on the publication of the insulting cartoons of Prophet Muhammad PBUH by Charlie Hebdo in front of France Embassy in Jakarta on Tuesday (20/1).

During the protest, Hizb-ut Tahrir Indonesia sent a delegation consisting of four to meet the representatives of the French Ambassador in the Embassy. Later, the delegation was involved in a heated debate with the representatives of the Embassy over the issue of freedom of speech.

After introducing the goals of Hizb ut-Tahrir which are to reestablish the Islamic Khilafah and apply the Islamic laws, the Vice Spokesman of HTI, Farid Wadjdi, expressed criticism of Charlie Hebdo tabloid and the silence of the French Government which let the reproduction of the satirical edition of the magazine which published the insulting cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad PBUH.

He said that that the reproduction is an act of stubbornness that will not solve the problems, instead it will cause turmoil not only in France but also in the whole world.

Farid said that France should distinguish between freedom and insult while clarifying that Islam is not anti-criticism but insulting Islam is not criticism.

Farid also said that what is so called ‘freedom’ is just nonsense since they ban Muslim women to wear burkha and someone is labelled as anti-Semitism if questioning the existance of Holocaust which will lead to his arrest and imprisonment.

The First Secretary of the French Ambassador, Jean-Louis Bertrand, refused to discuss the meaning of freedom since he said they have different point of view on this matter.

However, Jean Louis promised to submit the written statement of HTI which protests the insult of Prophet Muhammad SAW by Charlie Hebdo to the French Government.

The Head of HTI Rokhmat S Labib said the French government should punish the satirical magazine which insults the Prophet Muhammad PBUH to stop from occurring in the future, otherwise, it will only add the long list of the crimes committed by France such as the massacres of thousands of Muslims in Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Central Africa.

While in the past, Farid explained, during the era of Caliph Sulayman Al Qanuni, the Islamic State helped the King of French when he asked for help to fight against the King of Austria.

Rokhmat also invited Jean-Louis to convert to Islam because Islam is a true religion and his past sins will be forgiven if he converts to Islam, he explained.

Jean-Louis was trying to defend his position and said that as Catholics, Jews and others, Islam is a respected religion in France. “The Muslims are French citizens and we protect them.”

His statement was refuted by Farid who said that the insult to the Prophet is a proof that his statement is false.

Upon hearing the quick response, Jean-Louis clearly expressed his frustration.

Outside the Embassy, there were around one thousand protestors of HTI still holding banners defending the Prophet and condemning the cartoons despite the pouring rain after they marched to the French Embassy. []