B

uni Yani, the man who has largely been blamed for igniting Muslim outrage against former Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama for his blasphemous speech in Thousand Islands regency that led to his incarceration in May this year, has been found guilty of tampering with a video of the controversial speech.

The Bandung District Court on Tuesday sentenced Buni to 18 months in jail for violating the country’s cyber law.

He had been found guilty of breaching Article 32 of the 2008 Electronic Information and Transaction (ITE) Law that prohibits people from illegally “changing, adding and cutting electronic documents belonging to other people or the public,” presiding judge M. Saptono said.

“Allahu akbar! Allahu akbar!” a visibly emotional Buni, who has declared his innocence throughout the trial, shouted after hearing the verdict.

The judges acknowledged the fact that three other people had also uploaded a part of the video before Buni did on Oct. 6 last year.

However, the judges argued that it was his posting on Facebook that triggered social unrest, including a series of massive sectarian rallies against Ahok.

The rallies led to the prosecution of Ahok who was found guilty of blasphemy and sentenced to two years in prison. His conviction drew worldwide criticism and condemnations.

The blasphemy allegation against Ahok has divided the nation and emboldened radical Islamist groups who claim to speak on behalf of all Muslims.

It was also instrumental in causing Ahok’s defeat in the April 19 gubernatorial election.

Buni uploaded a 30 second scene of the nearly two-hour long video in which Ahok said some people had been deceived by others using the Qur’anic verse Al-Maidah 51.

Some Muslims believe that the verse prohibits Muslims from electing a non-Muslim.

The judges said as a lecturer, the defendant should have known better about the impact of social media.

“After watching the video a few times, the defendant did not seek confirmation when he knew that there was something unethical [in the video].

“The defendant did not seek confirmation and just uploaded it,” the bench said.

Buni said he would appeal and thus escaped imprisonment for now as his verdict is not yet final and binding.

The prosecutors, meanwhile, said they would need time to decide whether to appeal the verdict or not.

The sentenced handed to Buni is lighter than what prosecutors had demanded, which is two years imprisonment and a Rp 100 million (US$7,382) fine.

About 300 people gathered outside the court to support him, including former National Mandate Party (PAN) leader Amien Rais and Muslim activist and lawyer Eggi Sudjana.

The police deployed about 800 officers to secure the trial on Tuesday.