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Public has legal standing to report Ahok for blasphemy: Expert
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Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama attends a hearing in South Jakarta on Feb. 21. (Antara/POOL/M Agung Rajasa/via JP)
A
criminal law expert testified on Tuesday that people who watched the video of Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama referencing a Quranic verse in Thousand Islands regency had a legal standing to report Ahok to the police for blasphemy, refuting an earlier defense from Ahok’s lawyers that the report should have been submitted by eyewitnesses.
Ahok was reported to the police by 14 people who only knew of Ahok’s speech from the viral video. None of the Thousand Islands residents who listened to Ahok's speech in person reported Ahok.
"The people who have faith in this [Quranic verse] have a legal standing to report Ahok. Their report indicates that they felt aggrieved [by Ahok's speech]," Mudzakir, a criminal law expert with the Indonesian Islamic University (UII), told the judges.
The video of Ahok's speech was uploaded to the internet by his staff members who did not edit the sensitive part, Mudzakir said.
Therefore, people who later watched the video on the internet and knew about it from news had a right to denounce Ahok, he said. (evi)
