Holywings is going viral due to a campaign that was accused of containing elements of blasphemy. Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan decided to close down and revoke the business permits of 12 Holywings outlets in the capital city.

The reason behind the decision is not because the F&B business has been proven to have committed blasphemy, but because it does not have a complete business licence.

Citing CNBC Indonesia (27 June), Head of the Jakarta Tourism and Creative Economy Agency Andhika Permata explained that the management of Holywings outlets in Jakarta was proven to have made several mistakes. One of them is that several outlets haven’t obtained the standard certificate KBLI 56301 for the bar type of business.

This certificate is mandatory for businesses that will sell alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and snacks as part of their business activities.

Holywings Group Jakarta only has a licence as an alcoholic beverage retailer. It is not the proper licence, because as a retailer, consumers who buy the beverages are not allowed to drink them on the spot.

"From the site inspection, it was found that the business sells alcoholic beverages for drinking on the spot, which, legally, requires a Direct Seller Certificate (SKPL) Class B and C with PB-UMKU KBLI 56301," said Head of the Jakarta Industry, Trade, Cooperatives and SME Agency Elisabeth Ratu Rante Allo.

Only seven of the twelve Holywings outlets are licensed retailers. The other five outlets do not hold any permits. 

The 12 outlets that were closed down are:

1. Holywings at Tanjung Duren Utara

2. Holywings at Tanjung Duren Utara

3. Holywings Kalideres

4. Holywings at Kelapa Gading Barat

5. Tiger

6. Dragon

7. Holywings PIK

8. Holywings Reserve Senayan

9. Holywings Epicentrum

10. Holywings Mega Kuningan

11. Garison

12. Holywings Gunawarman

13. Vandetta Gatsu

Regarding the blasphemy allegation, TFR has contacted Holywings Indonesia, but as of the time of writing, we haven’t received any response.

The blasphemy allegations spread when Holywings launched a campaign to give free liquor. One bottle of "Gordon's dry gin for man" would be given to an individual named "Muhammad" and "Gordon's dry gin for woman" to an individual named "Maria" every Thursday at Club 1 Pentagon, Mega Kuningan, Campus Karawaci, Pondok Indah, PIK, Ground Tanjung Duren, Bandung Karangsari, Kertajaya, Graha Famili and Medan outlets.

The campaign, which was launched on 23 June, immediately drew public anger. At last, Holywings uploaded an apology. 

Holywings in its statement said it was not aware of this campaign. Therefore, the company will give the promotion team very heavy sanctions.

This statement created another dispute. Some think that it is the management who should be held responsible, not the employees. On the other hand, some opined that the employees should bravely refuse to work on a campaign that is considered not in accordance with societal values.

To this date, six Holywings employees have been detained by the South Jakarta Police. They are EJD (male, 27, creative director who oversee four divisions), NDP (female, 36, head of the promotion team who designed the programme and forwarded it to the creative team), DAD (male, 27, graphic designer), EA (female, 22, admin of the promotion team who uploaded content), AAB (female, 25, social officer who uploaded social media content related to Holywings) and AAM (female, 25, admin of the promotion team who gave requests to the creative team and ensured sponsorship for events at Holywings).

As reported by Kompas.com, the six suspects were charged with Article 14 paragraphs 1 and 2 of Law Number 1 of 1946 and Article 156 or Article 156A of the Criminal Code related to blasphemy.

They were also charged with Article 28 paragraph 2 of Law Number 19 of 2016 concerning Amendments to Law Number 11 of 2008 concerning Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) which prohibits hate speech related to ethnicity, religion, race and intergroup (SARA).