Mar'uf was speaking at the North Jakarta District Court on Tuesday during the eighth hearing in the blasphemy trial against Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, who is currently on leave as he campaigns for reelection.

During the hearing, Ahok’s defense team presented evidence suggesting that Ma’ruf was present in a meeting between central executive board members of Indonesia's largest Muslim group, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), and Agus and Sylviana on Oct. 7.

(Read also: MUI recommendation on Ahok the council's strongest kind of document, chairman tells court)

During the meeting, Mar'uf said that the Agus-Sylviana ticket, which is backed by the Democratic Party, had “similarity of thoughts” with NU, according to a report from kompas.com.

“I made this statement merely to please them [Agus and Sylviana] as my guests at that time,” Mar'uf told the court.

He frequently claimed in the hearing that the meeting had taken place before Ahok's blasphemy case had come into the public spotlight.

Rejecting that claim, Ahok's legal defense team showed to the judges an online news piece with a specified date, which indicated that the meeting had taken place after the blasphemy case had made headlines.

Ma’ruf attended the hearing to testify as a witness in the case. He was the MUI official who signed the council’s recommendation to the National Police that Ahok’s speech, in which he cited a Quranic verse, could be categorized blasphemous. (ebf)

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