MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Some 200,000 Muslims wearing white robes thronged the central square around the National Monument early in the morning, according to police estimates cited by the Jakarta Globe newspaper.
Protesters performed their Friday prayers in opposition to Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, an ethnic-Chinese who angered Indonesians in September when he criticized conservatives for claiming the Quran forbade a non-Muslim from governing over Muslims.
The National police confirmed it had arrested ten people ahead of the Jakarta protest on allegations they had been plotting to attack or defame national leaders, the Jakarta Post reported. Kompas, a national newspaper, identified one of them as ex-president’s daughter Rahmawati.
