Holywings 'Free Liquor for Muhammad and Maria' Promo Backfires, Now Faces Police Complaint

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The latest promotional campaign by Cafe Holywings Indonesia sparked controversy as one of its latest ads that spread on social media platforms offered free alcoholic beverages for anyone with the name Muhammad and Maria.

Due to this matter, they face a police complaint filed by lawyer Sunan Kalijaga and the Indonesian Young Advocate Association alleging the cafe of committing blasphemy and offending Muslim and Christian communities. 

The complaint was registered at the Jakarta Metro Police headquarters on Thursday, June 23, and was officially received on Friday dawn. Kalijaga explained on his social media account that they are reporting Hollywing’s management. 

“Alhamdulillah, our complaint has been accepted by the Metro Jaya Police,” he said in an Instagram video post on June 24. 

Plaintiffs allege that the cafe had committed a crime under Article 28 (2) jo Article 45 of the Electronic Information and Transactions Law (ITE) for expressing hatred and SARA (ethnicity, religion, racial, and group affiliations) and could face charges up to 5 years imprisonment. 

"We suspect that it was carried out by one of the cafe management which is currently viral on social media and mainstream media. We deeply regret the promo which has deeply offended Muslims and Christians," said Sunan.

Prior to this, Holywings issued a public apology via its Instagram account and said it had followed up on the issue and acted upon the promotional team responsible for offering free Gordon’s dry gin to customers named Muhammad and Maria. They claimed that the promo had not been informed to company management before it was released to the public.

ARRIJAL RACHMAN

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