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| Gov. Basuki leaving the court premises |
The outgoing governor of Jakarta has
been sentenced to two years in prison for blasphemy and inciting violence. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, known as
Ahok, was the first ethnic Chinese Christian to run Indonesia’s capital, and
the case was seen as a test of the country’s religious tolerance. He was
accused of insulting Islam by referring to a verse in the Koran during a
campaign speech. Mr Purnama denied blasphemy and in court said he would mount
an appeal. The sentence is harsher than most observers had expected –
prosecutors had called for a suspended one-year sentence.
The governor was “found to have
legitimately and convincingly conducted a criminal act of blasphemy, and
because of that we have imposed two years of imprisonment,” the judge told the
court. Mr Purnama was accused of blasphemy for comments he made during a
pre-election speech last September. He implied that Islamic leaders were trying
to trick voters by using a verse in the Koran to argue that Muslims should not
vote for a non-Muslim leader.
His remarks, which were widely shared
in an edited video, sparked outrage among religious hardliners.They staged
regular large rallies calling for him to face trial. Throughout the trial, Mr
Purnama denied wrongdoing, but did apologise for his comments nonetheless.
Ahead of the verdict, protesters for
and against Mr Purnama had gathered outside the court demanding respectively
his acquittal or a long prison sentence. Disappointed with the eventual
verdict, some protesters demanded the outgoing governor to be hanged.
Around 15,000 security personnel from
the police and military are providing security at the scene, with riot police
and armoured vehicles separating the rival groups. Mr Purnama became governor
after his predecessor, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, was elected president in 2014.
As an ethnic Chinese Indonesian and
Christian he is a double minority, and was Jakarta’s first non-Muslim governor
for 50 years. His political success was also seen as a significant development
given the violent anti-Chinese riots that occurred in the city in 1998.
Before the blasphemy allegations, he
had been widely hailed as a straight-talking politician with a strong
anti-corruption stance But the controversy overshadowed scheduled elections
last month. Despite his enduring popularity with many in Jakarta for his
efforts to improve living standards, he lost to conservative Muslim candidate
Anies Rasyid Baswedan.
Indonesia is the world’s
most-populous Muslim country. About 85% of its population are Muslim, but the
country officially respects six religions.
Source: BBC
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