Edited video used to spread false claim 'students held captive by Islamic school in Indonesia'
- Published on September 6, 2023 at 09:59
- 4 min read
- By AFP Indonesia
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A video that appears to show men bowing to the ground in front of police in a black uniform was posted here on Facebook on August 25, 2023, where it has been viewed more more than 2.7 million times.
A narrator on the video can be heard saying: "Police freed hundreds of students held by Panji Gumilang, the leader of Al-Zaytun, in a secret underground room."
The one-minute and 50-second video consists of various clips and images along with overlay text that reads: "Students prostrate in gratitude after hundreds were rescued from the captivity of Panji Gumilang in an underground room."
Al-Zaytun, an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia's West Java province, made headlines in early August 2023, when its leader, 77-year-old Muslim cleric Panji Gumilang, was arrested on charges of blasphemy and hate speech (archived link).
His arrest followed a public backlash against the school for allowing women to pray in the same row as men and to give Friday sermons. Muslims in Indonesia usually practise gender segregation during prayers and men deliver Friday sermons.
Al Zaytun also courted controversy when it was reported that students were heard singing a Hebrew folk song (archived link).
The same video has been viewed more than 19,000 times after it was shared on Facebook; TikTok here, here and here; as well as on X, formerly known as Twitter, here and here.
However, the claim is false.
A combination of reverse image and keyword searches on Google and Yandex reveal that the video uses unrelated clips and photos.
One image at the start of the video shows barbed wire and a man in uniform. It has been lifted from this news report by Indonesian broadcaster tvOne aired on June 15, 2023 (archived link).
The tvOne news report is about police being deployed to a rally at the school’s headquarters on the same day.
After seven-second mark, the misleading clip shows an image of men prostrating in front of uniformed officers.
It previously appeared in a report published by news portal Suara Bangsa on April 3, 2020, showing Indonesian inmates expressing gratitude for their release as part of a government policy to prevent Covid-19 infections in prisons (archived link).
The photo shown at the 17-second mark shows Indramayu police chief Fahri Siregar speaking to journalists about security measures during protests against Al-Zaytun, reported by Kompas TV on June 21, 2023 (archived links here and here).
Below are screenshot comparisons of scenes in the misleading video (left) and the original sources (right):
At the 24-second mark of the misleading video, the narrator talks about "a boarding school student who escaped the captivity". However, the video actually shows a picture of a M. Najih Arromadloni, an Indonesian Ulema Council official, and a photo of teenagers who were arrested for allegedly planning to take part at a brawl near the boarding school (archived links here, here and here).
Below are screenshot comparisons of scenes in the misleading video (left) and the original sources (right):
Later, when the narrator talks about "police discovered an underground room" at the school, where "hundreds of students were held captive", the video in fact shows clips of the remnants of an ancient underground city in Indonesia's East Java province and a news report of police securing Al Zaytun complex as its supporters and opponents staging competing rallies in June 2023 (archived links here, here and here).
Below are screenshot comparisons of scenes in the misleading video (left) and the original sources (right):
There have been no credible reports that students were held captive at the school.
On August 27, 2023, police in Indramayu regency, where the 5,000-strong school is located, said the claim is a "hoax" (archived links here and here).
AFP previously debunked a false claim that Al-Zaytun "raised pigs inside the campus".
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