by Abu Hanifah, Basten Gokkon
JAKARTA, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian authorities have imposed full alert status in the capital city of Jakarta in anticipation of the planned massive demonstration to be staged by Muslim hardliners later this weekend.
Thousands of demonstrators would demand legal enforcers to prosecute Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama over his blasphemous comments on verses in the Koran made last month.
Jakarta police headquarters has announced that it would deploy around 7,000 personnel, possibly reinforced by 500 troops from elite units of the military.
The measures were intended to beef up security in the capital city, anticipating violence incited by the demonstrations who come from various hardliner groups in the country.
"Police will apply particular security procedures on Nov. 4, escalate the security measures in several places prone from being affected by conflict and clash," Jakarta Police Deputy Chief Suntana said on Saturday.
The planned demonstration would be the second one staged by Muslim hardliners to oppose Basuki, who is the incumbent candidate to run for election of Jakarta governor post early next year.
Read the full story at Xinhua