SURABAYA, Indonesia (Morning Star News) – Police on Thursday (Oct. 17) arrested a Christian for comments he made about Islam on social media that had led hundreds of angry Muslims to besiege his home, according to local reports.

The Muslim mob surrounded the home of florist Rudi Simamora in Sunggal, near Medan city, Deli Serdang Regency, North Sumatra Province for more than an hour, local media reported. Rudi had stated on his TikTok account that messages by Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, were of human rather than divine origin, and some residents said he asserted that the quranic Allah is racist, according to TVOne.com.

Amid the mob siege, Rudi had appealed for police help via his TikTok account, TribunMedan TV reported.

“Police, please help me,” he said in a live broadcast. “Please help me those police who are watching the broadcast. Friends, please contact the police first, whoever the police are in Medan City.”

Rudi had been arrested in 2022 for allegedly insulting Islam, according to Tribun.com, owned by Indonesian media conglomerate Kompas. He was sentenced to one year in prison on Feb. 23, 2023 and released earlier this year.

The Rev. Erwin Tambunan, chairperson of the Medan Regional Indonesian Churches Association (Persatuan Gereja Indonesia Daerah, or PGID), had issued an apology to the Muslim community for Rudi’s 2022 comments and said Christians support all legal processes against such perpetrators….