TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Ahok's review to be handled by judge Artidjo
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Jakarta's Christian former governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, popularly known as Ahok, speaks to his lawyers after judges delivered their sentence in his blasphemy trial in Jakarta on May 9, 2017. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
T
he Supreme Court has appointed Supreme Court justice Artidjo Alkostar, a judge famous for his harsh punishment of corruption convicts, to handle the case review filed by former Jakarta governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama challenging his blasphemy conviction.
"There was no special reason [behind the appointment]. The chief justice of the Supreme Court has the authority to appoint the justice," Supreme Court Spokesman Suhadi said on Thursday according to kompas.com.
Artidjo had made headlines in the past when he decided to give harsher punishments for corruption convicts who tried to appeal previous rulings.
In 2016, Artidjo increased the sentence of former Jakarta Transportation chief Udar Pristono from nine to 13 years in the Transjakarta bus-procurement corruption case.
Also in 2016, he increased the seven-year sentence handed down to prominent lawyer OC Kaligis to 10 years in a corruption case.
Artidjo's reputation as a firm judge has prompted some corruption convicts to withdraw their cassation proposals from the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court has also appointed justice Salman Luthan and Sumardijatmo to review the case.
Ahok's lawyer Josefina Syukur said she believed the Supreme Court could give a fair decision according to the prevailing laws.
Meanwhile, Suhadi said the review could be completed by the end of March.
Ahok was convicted of blasphemy in May last year for suggesting that some people had abused a Quranic verse to block his re-election bid.
The panel of judges led by Dwiarso Budi Santiarso sentenced Ahok to two years in prison.
Earlier in February, Ahok challenged his conviction on the grounds that judges had made mistakes while handing down their ruling. (cal)
