Brenton Craig Abbas Abdullah McArthur,from his Facebook page in 2015.Credit:Facebook
He has been accused of spitting at Imam M Basri Anwar at the al-Muhajir Mosque at about 6am on Friday. He had been staying nearby in a guesthouse and had reportedly been annoyed by the sound of the early morning call to prayer from the mosque.
McArthur has been held since his arrest at Bandung police station and has now been named as a suspect over the incident at the mosque,Indonesian news outletKumparan reported on Sunday.
Bandung police said the Australian was being investigated under Articles 315 and 335 of the Indonesian penal code.
Article 315 of the Indonesian penal code refers to defamation committed with deliberate intent while Article 335 covers offensive treatment.
“The articles we applied for are articles 335 and 315 from the penal code. It is about unpleasant treatment and humiliation,” Bandung police chief,senior commissioner Budi Sartono,reportedly said.
“The penalty is one year and two months but we will see later how the process goes.”
TheKumparanreport said McArthur was denying the allegations against him but said police had taken testimony from five witnesses who challenged his version of events.