Indonesia arrests Aussie man who spit in Imam's face
2 Min Read
Brenton Craig Abbas Abdullah McArthur will face up to 14 months in jail if he is convicted.
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Screen capture from a security camera shows Brenton McArthua as he enters the Indonesian Mosque in Bandung on April 28, 2023.
After reportedly spitting in the face of an imam at an Indonesian mosque, an Australian man faces more than a year in prison.
Brenton Craig Abbas Abdullah McArthur has been charged in connection with an alleged assault in a Bandung mosque that was caught on CCTV.
The video, which has gone viral, shows a guy in a baseball cap entering the mosque and conversing with the imam before seeming to spit in his face. As the man walks away, the imam flees.
Indonesian police used the man's passport to track him down and he was arrested at Soekarno-Hatta airport while attempting to board a flight to Australia.
Bandung’s police chief, Budi Sartono detailed,“We immediately pick[ed] him up at the airport and [took] him to the Bandung Police Station for interrogation.”
McArthur was charged under sections 335 and 315 of the penal code, which govern unpleasant acts and insults, according to the Indonesian news website Kumparan. If convicted, he faces a maximum term of 14 months in jail.
McArthur denied any culpability and claimed to be the victim in a social media post. "Stop crying all your racist tears," he captioned a photo on Instagram. "I am a Muslim, and this is just racist, threatening a bule and laughing behind a coward."
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Bule is an Indonesian word used to describe foreigners from European descent.
Basri Anwar, the imam, told an Indonesian news site that McArthur was "disturbed" by the Quran being recited over the mosque's loudspeaker.
