TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Law and Human Rights Ministry’s Directorate General of Correctional spokesman Ade Kusmanto is unable to confirm the rumor of former Jakarta Governor Basuki ‘Ahok’ Tjahaja Purnama being granted parole in August 2018.

“Ahok’s parole is yet to be confirmed,” said Ade today. Up until this day, according to him, the Cipinang 1 detention center in East Jakarta has not submitted Ahok’s parole proposal to the ministry neither online or manually.

Furthermore, in order to submit for a parole, Ahok would have to fulfill several requirements such as administration and substance issues, Ahok’s cooperativeness nine months prior to the parole, and has undergone two-thirds of his total imprisonment period.

“The main thing is that Ahok has served two-thirds of his incarceration and maintained to be cooperative nine months prior to serving two-thirds of his time in prison,” Ade explained.

Meanwhile, Ahok’s sister and lawyer FIfi Letty Indra gave her opinion on information regarding her brother’s parole possibility in August, which she surprisingly said; “Yes that is true, but Ahok has decided not to take that parole,” Fifi explained to Tempo in a text message we received on Wednesday, July 11.

Ahok has served time in prison for 1 year and two months at the Police Mobile Brigade detention center (Mako Brimob) in Depok, West Java. He was sentenced for two years imprisonment after the former Jakarta Governor was found guilty of blasphemy by the North Jakarta District Court on May 9, 2017.

ANDITA RAHMA