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court hearing in Sampang, Madura, rejected a written plea by Tajul Muluk’s lawyer on Tuesday, insisting that the Shiite cleric was liable of up to five years in prison for blasphemy and insult as charged.

“We reject all the objections. The prosecutor’s charges have met all the requirements stipulated in Article 143 of the Criminal Code both formally and materially,” judge Syihabuddin told reporters after the trial at the Sampang District Court.

The trial lasted for about 30 minutes. Presiding Judge Purnomo Amin Cahyo adjourned the trial to May 30, with an agenda to hear witnesses’ testimonies.

In his objection, the defendant’s lawyer, Otman Ralibi, argued that the prosecutor’s charges were against Law No. 12/2005 on the Endorsement of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

In the previous hearing, the prosecutor charged Tajul under Article 165 of the Criminal Code for blasphemy which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and Article 335 for unpleasant acts carrying a penalty of one years’ imprisonment.

Tajul, according to the prosecutor, had insulted Islam by saying that the Koran of today was not original, as the original one had been taken down by Imam Mahdi. Tajul was also said to have obliged his congregation members to lie and taught them the wrong teaching about Rukun Islam (the five pillars of Islam) and Rukun Iman (six pillars of Islamic faith).

Otman said the charges were premature and unclear. What Tajul did, he said, was a form of freedom of religion and should be prosecuted.

“We will continue the struggle to free Tajul although many have expressed pessimism especially because such charges have never before beaten in court,” he said.

He urged for judges’ impartiality and warned against pressure.

The case was reportedly caused by an internal family rift between Tajul and his younger brother Roisul Hukama that later expanded to a community conflict between the Sunni majority and the Shiite minority in Nangkrenang, Sampang, Madura.

The peak of the conflict was the burning of four houses, a place of worship and a school building in the compound of Tajul’s boarding school reportedly committed by an anti-Shiite community in December last year.

Tajul was detained on April 12 amid strong protests from human rights activists.

The chairman of the consultative council of the Indonesian Ahlul Bait Association (Ijabi), Jalaluddin Rahmat, said that Tajul was “sacrificed” for the political interests of a majority group.

Data at the East Java election body shows that in December this year there will be two regional elections on Madura Island, namely in Bangkalan and Sampang, while the election for governor will be held in 2014.

Jalaluddin expressed confidence that the case would not influence the Shiite’s religious activities nationwide, saying that he had met a number of Nahdlatul Ulama elites for a guarantee.

Meanwhile, chairman of East Java Interfaith Forum (FKUB) Imam Ghazali said that what happened to Tajul was a more personally oriented case before being fanned by accusations of blasphemy.

He alleged that a flow of funds from the provincial administration to Tajul had helped trigger the burning of Tajul’s boarding school.