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Jakarta Post

Ahok to present Egyptian expert in blasphemy case

National Police chief Gen

Indra Budiari (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Tue, November 15, 2016

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Ahok to present Egyptian expert in blasphemy case

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ational Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian revealed on Monday that he had approved the request by Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama to present a renowned Quran interpretation expert from the internationally respected Al-Azhar University in Cairo.

Tito said Ahok had the right to bring respected Muslim scholar Seikh Amr al-Wardani from the prestigious university to take part in Ahok’s blasphemy case screeening on Tuesday .

“It is based on an invitation from the reported party [Ahok]. I don’t see any problem if he wants to bring an expert from Egypt,” Tito said.

Wardani’s planned attendance sparked protests from several Islamic groups, among them the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), who have demanded Ahok be tried for blasphemy and who staged a massive rally in Central Jakarta on Nov. 4.

The FPI’s firebrand leader Rizieq Shihab said that it was an insult to the Muslim clerics and experts of Indonesia. Through his personal website, Rizieq said that Wardani’s involvement would damage Al-Azhar’s credibility.

“We hope that Wardani will not get involved in Indonesian Muslims’ affairs, because it will tarnish the images of Al-Azhar and Egypt, which are respected in Indonesia,” Rizieq said.

The National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) will hold the blasphemy case secreening on Tuesday as part of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s promise to settle Ahok’s case within two weeks.

As many as 20 language, criminal and religion experts, as well as the 11 parties that have filed a police report against Ahok, have been invited to Tuesday’s screening. Their statements will be heard by the police investigators before they decide whether to proceed with the case.

At the suggestion of President Jokowi, the police had previously announced that the case screening would be open to the public as a way of ensuring transparency in the investigation process. The police, however, backtracked on this announcement following strong criticism from legal experts.

National Police spokesperson Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said on Monday that as representatives of the public, members of the House of Representatives Commission III overseeing legal affairs, the Indonesian Ombudsman and the National Police Commission (Komplonas) would be invited to the screening.

“After the experts and reporting parties provide us with all the required information, we will need one or two days to decide whether we will go forward with the case or drop it,” Boy told reporters.

Among the invited experts are representatives of Pemuda Muhammadiyah, the youth wing of Indonesia’s second-largest Islamic organization Muhammadiayh, the Antiblasphemy Forum (FAPA), the FPI and the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI).

House Commission III chairman, Bambang Soesatyo, however, said the commission had turned down the invitation. “Commission III decided not to attend, in order to maintain the police’s independence as an institution,” the legislator announced on Monday.

Ahok said that he would accept whatever result was reached by the police in their investigation even if it meant that he could be named a suspect in the case.

“I believe the police are professional. Whatever the police decide, I will accept it, even if I am named a suspect,” Ahok said during an event at his campaign headquarters in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Monday.

The governor hoped that, if the police named him a suspect, they would present his case to the court immediately and wanted it to be aired live on television so people could see that he was not guilty.

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