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Five-judge panel to seal Ahok’s fate
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Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama (wearing batik shirt) during his blasphemy trial in the North Jakarta District Court on March 20, 2017. (Republika/ POOL/Raisan Al Farisi via JP)
A
panel of judges comprising four Muslims and one Hindu is set to determine on Tuesday the fate of outgoing Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian of Chinese descent, who is on trial for allegedly insulting the Quran.
The verdict will set a precedent in a case that has severely divided the nation and paved the way for growing conservatism.
In response to mass pressure from Muslim communities, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo caved and allowed Ahok, his ally, to be put in the frying pan, after the Nov. 2 and Dec. 2 rallies last year calling for Ahok’s imprisonment turned out to be biggest since the 1998 reform movement.
Amid mounting pressure, the prosecution was rushed through in less than seven months and was carried out at the height of Jakarta’s gubernatorial election, which saw Ahok losing largely due to the negative campaign from the case.
With pressure from the masses intensifying and from certain political elites, who hold grudges against Jokowi, were accused of meddling in the trial, the judges will likely feel the heat, despite a decision on April 20 by prosecutors to drop the blasphemy charges.
The prosecutors’ decision came after Ahok conceded defeat in the runoff election a day earlier.
The prosecutors instead demanded Ahok be given two years’ probation if he was found to have violated Article 156 of the Criminal Code on showing animosity toward others.
