Blasphemy Trial: Ahok to Name Buni Yani in Closing Argument

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Lawyer team member of Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, or Ahok, I Wayan Sudarta said that his client`s closing argument has already been prepared.

“One day before the reading, four drafts will be made available, the closing argument has been prepared well,” Sudarta told a press conference in Central Jakarta on Friday, April 21, 2017.

According to Sudarta, Ahok will write his own closing argument with the help of the legal team. “Pak Basuki will express all, what he experienced and felt. It will be interesting,” he said.

Buni Yani, the man who uploaded edited Ahok’s speech video, will also be named in some passages. He pointed that people were not outraged even ten days after the speech. “Meaning that the furor was not sparked by Pak Basuki’s remarks, but by [the video] uploaded by Buni Yani. It corresponds with what the prosecutors noted,” he said.

The closing argument will also mention the prosecutors’ recommendation that Ahok be jailed for 1 year plus 2 year probation period. “It indicates the prosecutors’ hesitation. We can easily rebut it, who was the one being insulted. The anxiety was caused by Buni Yani who uploaded a video while omitting the word ‘pakai’ [using],” Wayan said.

Ahok’s closing argument will state that his visit to the Seribu Islands to give a speech on grouper fish farming was not against the law in accordance with article 50 of the Criminal Code. Wayan added that any individual reserves the right to perform their duties, all the more so because Ahok is a public official. He said that Ahok will be acquitted after the closing argument is being read aloud.

However, he said that he will still show respect to the judges. “Talking about the law and I believe that, from any perspective and aspects, [Ahok] should be acquitted. There is no room to punish Pak Basuki,” Wayan said.

AGHNIADI