Jakarta KPUD Commissioner Scheduled to Testify in Ahok Blasphemy Trial
Jakarta. Dahliah Umar, a commissioner at the Jakarta Election Commission, or KPUD, was one of five witnesses scheduled to testify in the eighth session of the blasphemy trial against Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama on Tuesday (31/01).
The trial, which started at 9 a.m. at the auditorium of the Ministry of Agriculture in South Jakarta, was scheduled to feature Dahliah, Indonesian Ulema Council chairman Ma'ruf Amin, plaintiff Ibnu Baskoro and two fishermen from Jakarta's Thousand Islands district: Jaenudin, alias Panel bin Adim, and Sahbudin, alias Deni.
"The prosecutors may want to explore possible campaign violations by Ahok in the Thousand Islands. It could be the issue," Ahok's lawyer Sirra Prayuna told reporters.
Ahok's legal team also demanded that the court force Ibnu, one of many plaintiffs who reported their client to police for blasphemy, to make an appearance as he has already failed three times to show up for the trial.
"Ibnu filed a report, so he must take responsibility to attend the trial. If he refuses to do so, it makes us wonder what is behind all of this," said Trimoelya D. Soejardi, another lawyer for Ahok.
Ahok is accused of having insulted Islam and the ulemas during a speech on Pramuka Island in the Thousand Islands district in which he said nobody should use the Koran for political benefit.
The incumbent governor, who is a Christian of Chinese descent, was declared a suspect in the blasphemy case in mid-November last year amid mounting pressure from hardline groups, which staged a series of mass demonstrations to demand his arrest.
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