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Ahok to face cross examination in Tuesday's hearing

Indra Budiari (The Jakarta Post)

Jakarta

Tue, April 4, 2017 Published on Apr. 4, 2017 Published on 2017-04-04T08:46:18+07:00

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Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama attends his blasphemy trial at the North Jakarta District Court on Feb. 2. (detik.com/POOL/Grandyos Zafna/via JP)

J

akarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama is set to undergo a cross examination as a defendant during his blasphemy trial at the North Jakarta District Court on Tuesday as both his lawyers and prosecutors have presented all their witnesses and experts before the court.

In Tuesday's hearing, a panel consisting of the judges, prosecutors and the defense team will question the governor about the blasphemy he allegedly committed during a visit to the Thousand Islands last year.

A language expert testifying during a previous hearing last week conveyed his objections to the blasphemy indictments made against the governor. Bambang Kaswanti Purwo, a linguist from Atma Jaya Catholic University in Jakarta, said he had watched the full recording of Ahok’s speech, which lasted one hour and 38 minutes.

Bambang said that during his speech, instead of campaigning, as he was accused of doing by prosecutors, Ahok stated that residents did not have to vote for him.

“He said a couple of times that the [Jakarta administration’s] program would continue even if he wasn’t elected. There were no campaign elements in his speech,” he told the panel of judges. (ebf)