TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Criminal expert, witnesses to testify at Ahok's hearing
Change Size
Hot seat: Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama enters the courtroom ahead of the 13th hearing in his blasphemy trial at the North Jakarta District Court on March 7. (Media Indonesia/POOL/Ramdani/via JP)
J
akarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama is set to present one expert and three witnesses to testify in his defense in the 14th hearing of his blasphemy trial on Tuesday.
One of Ahok’s lawyers, Josefina Syukur, said Edward Omar Sharif Hiariej, a criminal law expert from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, would testify on Ahok's behalf.
She said the governor’s lawyer team would also present three witnesses, all from Bangka Belitung, who understood how Ahok had been dealing with pressure related to the Surah Al Maidah 51 verse since he was a Bangka Belitung governor candidate in 2007.
“We will present Juhri, the former elections supervisory head for Bangka Belitung in 2007, and Suyanto, Ahok’s driver and friend in Bangka Belitung," Josefina told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
She added that a schoolmate of Ahok's, Fajrun, would also testify in the governor's defense.
The lawyers previously planned to present Ferry Lukmantara, a former Tanjung Pandang elections supervisor who knew about the distribution of pamphlets that urged Bangka Belitung residents not to vote for a non-Muslim in the 2007 election.
However, Ferry, who is a school teacher, cannot attend the hearing. “Ferry cannot come because he has work assignments from his employer,” Josefina said. (ebf)
