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View all search resultsAhok statement in court protected by law: Lawyer
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Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama sits in the defendant's chair at the start of his trial at the North Jakarta District Court on Tuesday. Ahok is accused of commiting blasphemy in a remark about a passage from the Quran. (AP/Tatan Syuflana, Pool)
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awyer of Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, Sirra Prayuna, stressed that Ahok’s statement at the North Jakarta District Court on Tuesday was protected by the law following accusations that Ahok had again committed blasphemy in the first hearing of his trial.
"People can't claim that Ahok's statement was a criminal act. As a defendant, according to the law, Ahok even has a right of refusal during the hearing," Sirra told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
Sirra said that the Criminal Law Procedures Code allowed suspects to give defense statements and testimony.
Statements made by suspects, witnesses, experts and lawyers in the trial could not be disputed as they were only for the relevant judges to consider, Sirra said.
On Wednesday, an organization named Advokat Cinta Tanah Air (ACTA) reported Ahok to the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) for his statement, which they deemed as a further insult against Islam.
They were referring to Ahok’s statement in the hearing that some politicians often used Surah Al Maidah, verse 51 of the Quran, to divide citizens. (jun)
