AN Indonesian court yesterday evening sentenced former youth and sports minister Roy Suryo to nine months in jail for spreading hate speech through his social media account.

Suryo was tried after he reposted a picture of a Buddhist statue edited to resemble the face of President Joko Widodo, reported Xinhua.

A Buddhist community protested and reported him to the police for alleged blasphemy, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, but the former minister was instead convicted of spreading hate speech by the court.

Suryo has apologised to the Buddhist community and said he is not the person who doctored the picture. – Bernama, December 29, 2022.