Expert questions whether Hizbut Tahrir ban will be effective

Hizbut Tahrir only became a legal entity in 2014. Photo / AP file

By Lauren Farrow and Heru Rahadi

The Indonesian Government has revoked hardline Islamic group Hizbut Tahrir's legal status, saying the organisation goes against the "spirit" of the country.

The group stirred up political tensions when it told Muslims not to vote for a non-Muslim in the recent Jakarta elections, which saw mass protests and resulted in the Christian governor losing his post and later jailed for blasphemy.

Just days after announcing a presidential decree that would allow the banning of "mass organisations" spreading ideology against the country's constitution and 'Pancasila', Director General of Law Administration Freddy Harris said they were revoking Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia legal status.

The organisation might say it respects Pancasila but its mission, which includes seeking to establish a caliphate operating under sharia law in Indonesia, is a clear contradiction, he said.

"HTI activities are against Pancasila and the spirit of Indonesia," he told reporters in Jakarta.

Just what this means for Hizbut Tahrir is unclear.

It has been operating in the country for decades, despite only becoming a legal entity in the last days of the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Government and in the midst of President Joko Widodo winning the election in July 2014.

Associate Professor of Indonesian Politics at the Australian National University, Greg Fealy, questioned whether such a ban would be effective.

"Hizbut Tahrir also has experience, both in Indonesia and abroad, of operating underground," he wrote in Lowy Institute's publication the Interpreter this week.

"HTI activists could simply create new labels for their activities or have no organisation affiliation at all, while secretly working through informal networks to pursue HTI's mission."

On Tuesday, HTI lodged a constitutional court challenge against the presidential decree which paved the way for their legal status to be revoked. Their lawyer Yusril Ihza Mahendra told AAP they had been unfairly targeted and that the decree could be used for a president's own political ends. HTI refused to comment on how many members it has in Indonesia.

- AAP