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Police, Court not yet agree on Ahok's trial venue
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Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama (right) looks tense as he leaves the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) after attending the handover of the dossier on his blasphemy case from the police to prosecutors in Jakarta on Thursday. Ahok is being prosecuted over references to a verse in the Quran that appears to prohibit Muslims from choosing non-Muslim leaders. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
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akarta Police and the North Jakarta District Court are still coordinating on the venue where Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama will be tried for alleged blasphemy.
Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Raden Prabowo Argo Yuwono said that North Jakarta District Court had the authority to determine the place of the trial.
However, police were providing the court with recommendations concerning security, Argo added.
"We are not prohibited from issuing recommendations to courts on trial locations [...]. We are taking into consideration the potential for disturbances, so that the trial can proceed smoothly without disturbing public activities," Argo said at the Jakarta Police headquarters on Thursday.
Argo added that the police’s intelligence division was still in the process of gathering information regarding the possible number of visitors in the trial.
Police would then deploy adequate personnel, he said.
"We will deploy enough personnel to secure the trial, taking into consideration the situation in the public," he said, adding that the police were to deploy security personnel to wherever the court decided to hold the trial.
The Attorney General’s Office said earlier that the trial, which is slated to begin on Tuesday, would take place in the former building of the Central Jakarta District Court on Jl. Gajah Mada, since the North Jakarta District Court was under renovation. (jun)
