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COMMENTARY: A slap in the face of Indonesian justice system from Ahok
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Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama attends his blasphemy hearing at the North Jakarta District Court. (Antara/Sigid Kurniawan/Pool)
Is there justice in Indonesia? For some perhaps. But not for others.
And one man, Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, no longer seems to trust the justice system to want to test it to its full extent. Certainly not anymore after he was convicted by the court in the first place for blasphemy on May 9.
This week Ahok, as the 50-year-old governor is popularly called, withdrew his plan to appeal against the conviction to the high court. He has effectively forfeited all his rights to contest the court ruling. Through his wife, Veronica Tan, Ahok said he would abide by the court’s decision and serve the full two-year sentence.
This may be a sweet victory for his detractors, who had campaigned hard for months to ensure that he be imprisoned for remarks that they considered blasphemous and that he not be elected governor of the capital city.
