Thursday 15 / May / 2025
Jakarta: Jakarta's former governor sought a judicial review of his case on Monday, as several hundred of his supporters and extremist protesters gathered outside a court in the Indonesian capital.
The ethnic Chinese Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, popularly known as "Ahok", was jailed for two years for blasphemy in 2017, provoking international condemnation amid concerns of political motivation after extremist-led rallies demanded his imprisonment.
Purnama's request for a judicial review will be passed on to the Supreme Court, a judge at a lower court hearing said.
"We have completed the examination and the dossiers will be sent to the Supreme Court," said Judge Mulyadi, one of a panel of judges at the North Jakarta court.
While on a work trip in 2016, Purnama said political rivals were deceiving people.
An incorrectly subtitled video of his comments later went viral, helping spark huge extremist-led demonstrations that ultimately led to his being brought to trial while he campaigned in city elections.
Purnama lost his bid for re-election to a rival, Anies Baswedan, in an April run-off last year, following the most divisive and religiously charged election in years.
Purnama's lawyer, Josefina Syukur, said the case was being challenged because they believed judges had made errors and also to allow the court to consider the subsequent conviction of a lecturer for doctoring the video of Purnama.
Another lawyer, Fify Lety Indra, who is also Purnama's sister, said her brother had dropped plans to appeal immediately after his detention, because "He was not willing to risk that his supporters and those who hate him might clash."
Purnama remains a popular figure among many in Jakarta, on account of his track record for clean and efficient governance. But his conviction could prevent him from holding some public posts under Indonesian law, because the offence carried a maximum penalty of five years.
Asked if Purnama intended to re-enter politics, Indra said: "We just pray...I do not know."
Some Muslim opponents felt Purnama should remain in jail.
