Djarot was of the opinion that Naman Sanip, 52, a local resident accused to have provoked public resistance against Djarot's campaign visit in North Kembangan, West Jakarta, on Nov. 9, had shown cooperative behavior. Naman was brave enough to meet him when the campaign opposition incident took place, he explained.

“I expect the defendant receives a light sentence. He was polite at the time of the incident. He was willing to meet me when I asked [local residents who opposed the campaign visit] who their leader was,” said Djarot on Tuesday, as quoted by kompas.com.  

Naman, who works as a porridge vendor, has been charged with violating Article 187 of Law No. 10/2016 on Regional Elections, which is punishable up to six months behind bars.

In a previous hearing on Monday, prosecutors demanded a three-month imprisonment for Naman, three months lower than the maximum sentence stipulated in the 2016 law.

Djarot said he had forgiven Naman, and if the man received a prison sentence, he would pay compensation to his family.

The campaign team of Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama and Djarot, has faced rejections during their campaign activities in several places across the capital since Ahok was implicated in a blasphemy case.

The team has reported the rejections and alleged campaign disruptions to the Jakarta election commission supervisory agency. (saf/ebf)

Popular

Taiwan raises alert over cancer-causing chemical in Indomie

Resource-scarce Japan gets more trains running on renewables

At least nine killed, two missing in Bali's worst flooding in years