TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The panel of judges of the North Jakarta District Court has sent Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama alias Ahok to two years in jail for blasphemy.
The public prosecutors had earlier recommended that Ahok be jailed for inciting animosity, hatred and insulting a certain group of Indonesian people.
The panel of judges rejects Ahok defense that he made reference to a Quranic verse to highlight political discrimination. The judges said that the governor’s speech itself has sparked unrest among the people.
Basuki’s case started when a video snippet showing his speech on the Seribu Islands on September last year went viral on social media. The governor visited the islands to talk about his administration’s fish farming program. During the speech, he made a reference to surah al-Maidah, verse 51 of the Quran. The governor said that people should not let themselves be fooled by certain individuals using the Quranic verse to vote against him in Jakarta election.
