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Suspect or not, Ahok will move on
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On the campaign trail: Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama woos voters in Jatinegara, Jakarta, on Tuesday as he bids for his second term in next year’s gubernatorial election. The police have begun their case screening on blasphemy allegations implicating Ahok. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
D
esperate to avoid further tension, the police on Tuesday decided not to immediately announce the outcome of the much-anticipated case screening regarding blasphemy allegations against Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, who is running for reelection.
The National Police said they would make an announcement on Wednesday on whether the allegation would be dropped or whether there was sufficient evidence and testimony to name Ahok a suspect.
Led by the head of the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim), Comr. Gen. Ari Dono, police heard testimonies from dozens of witnesses and experts during a 10-hour closed-door session.
After the screening had concluded, participants appeared to be interpreting it differently.
Ahok’s lawyer Sirra Prayuna said he was satisfied with the case screening.
“I think the National Police have been professional and transparent in investigating the case. The police gave us and those who lodged the complaints a chance to obtain complete information about the case,” he said after attending the screening session.
He added that the case screening had proceeded smoothly, without bickering between parties. Sirra refused to speculate on whether the police would decide if there was a case against Ahok.
“We will wait for the police’s conclusion about this case. We will accept the police’s decision, whatever it is,” he said.
Ahok, who opted to hit the campaign trail rather than attend the screening, maintained it would not be a game changer for him, whatever decision the police might take.
“I believe the police are professional. Whatever the police decide, I will accept it, even if I am named a suspect,” Ahok said at his campaign team headquarters in Menteng, Central Jakarta.
Ahok’s camp has maintained the candidate will continue to run in the election even if he is named a suspect.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar urged the public to accept any decision taken by the police, emphasizing that the police had “nothing to hide”.
“However, we will be prepared if some people are unsatisfied with the result,” Boy said.
While experts from the claimants’ camp were open to journalists, those called by Ahok’s camp seemed reluctant to make any statements to the press after the screening.
A number of witnesses were presented in Tuesday’s case screening from Ahok’s side and the reporting parties.
The experts from Ahok’s camp, according to Sirra, included Jisman Samosir, a legal expert from Parahyangan University; Nur Azis, also a legal expert; Umar Muslim, a linguist from the University of Indonesia; and Sa’dullah Affandy from the nation’s largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama.
Two eye witnesses, Suhari and Suyandi, had also given their testimonies, Sirra said. They were present when Ahok made the speech with a reference to a Quranic verse in Thousand Islands regency in September.
Singer-turned Islamic teacher Neno Warisman, who was also present in the screening, claimed Ahok had “intentionally” committed blasphemy against Islam.
“Linguistically, blasphemy was committed in that speech,” Neno alleged.
Yunahar Ilyas, a leadership board member of the nation’s second-largest Muslim group, Muhammadiyah, and Habib Rizieq, the firebrand leader of hard-line group Islam Defenders Front (FPI), were also present for the screening.
Many see the National Police’s decision as a test of the nation’s democracy based on the fact that the case emerged in the midst of the political campaign by Ahok, a Christian of Chinese descent, to retain his seat.
Titi Anggreini of election watchdog Perludem said public pressure created by the rally of more than 100,000 protestors on Nov. 4 should not play any part in the investigation.
“Even if it was voiced by the majority, that does not mean that the opinion is the truth and just. We should respect the legal process carried out by the police,” she told The Jakarta Post.
Muslim groups have pledged to stage another rally on Nov. 25 to put pressure on the police to expedite their probe if the National Police did not pursue the case after the screening.
Ahok’s legal team was previously reported to present Seikh Amr al-Wardani, a respected Muslim scholar of Al-Azhar University in Cairo, to prove that their client had not committed blasphemy. However, after protests from Islamic groups that demanded he “stay away from Indonesian Muslim affairs”, Ahok’s legal team announced that Wardani should return to Egypt, apparently over a family issue.
