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Ahok’s remarks must be evaluated in overall context: Prosecutors
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Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama enters a court room at the North Jakarta District Court to attend his trial on Dec. 20. Ahok is on trial for blasphemy following his remark about a passage in the Quran that could be interpreted as prohibiting Muslims from accepting non-Muslims as leaders. (Pool Photo via AP/Adek Berry)
T
o determine if someone had the intention of defaming a religion, a thorough examination of the context of the incident has to take place, the lead prosecutor of a blasphemy case has said.
“We cannot conclude whether or not the defendant had the intention to commit blasphemy by referring only to his claims, as he has conveyed in his exception. There had been a string of events related to each other that we should first examine,” prosecutor Ali Mukartono explained in reference to the second hearing of Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama’s blasphemy case on Tuesday.
Ali further said the key event in the case was Ahok’s working visit to Thousand Islands on Sept. 27, during which in his remarks, Ahok referenced Surah Al Maidah 51 in the context of the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election.
(Read also: More than 2,000 personnel deployed to secure Ahok's second hearing)
“At that time, the defendant was already registered as a gubernatorial candidate and he was aware of the upcoming regional election in 2017. It was in this visit that he told local residents, who were mostly Muslim, not to trust people who misused Al Maidah 51 [for their own political advantage] and not let themselves be deceived by the Quranic verse’s use,” said Ali.
The prosecutor said Ahok’s statement could not be separated from the governor’s intention to use Surah Al Maidah 51 as a tool to deceive people. The defendant's deliberate aim to deceive people using the verse would be proven when the evidence would be presented in his trial, he added. (ebf)
