The Indonesia government on Wednesday banned the Hizbul Tahrir group under a new presidential decree that has been criticised by rights groups. Freddy Haris, director-general at the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, said the group’s license had been revoked to “protect national unity”, AP reported.

The organisation, which says that it aims to create a global caliphate using non-violent means, is active in Australia and the United Kingdom. But it is banned in several West Asian and Central Asian countries.

President Joko Widodo signed the new decree last week. It gives the government unrestrained power to ban any organisation it believes has acted against national unity. Rights groups have criticised the order, saying the government can easily abuse the power.

After the decree was passed, Hizbul Tahrir had vowed to fight the case in a Constitutional court. “This is tyranny,” a spokesperson for the group, Ismail Yusantoi, told AFP. “The move just shows an arbitrary action aimed at disbanding Hizbut Tahrir.”

Legal expert Refly Harun said this was the first time that the Indonesian government had disbanded a group without following the usual legal process. “The presidential decree is a blank cheque for the government to disband any group without due process of law,” he told AFP.