The Christian governor of Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, said "Ahok",
will be taken to trial on December 13 by the North Jakarta District
Court for the case of alleged blasphemy against him, and that last month
caused mass demonstrations by his opponents and supporters in
Indonesia.
As announced by the Court, the case will be judged by a panel
led by chief judge Dwiarso Budi Santiarto, flanked by four other
judges.
The hearings will be held at the Central District Court of
Jakarta. Given the great public attention, the Prosecution has formed a
team of 13 senior officials who will act as prosecutors, and will be
engaged in the investigation.
The trial is expected to end a story that is shaking the nation: after
the massive demonstration on November 4, when Islamic extremist groups
led thousands of people in the streets, demanding the indictment and the
arrest of the governor, a second peaceful demonstration was held on
November 30 to reaffirm the principles of tolerance, love, unity in
diversity, legality, peace with the participation of millions of
Indonesian citizens, belonging to all religious communities, who shared a
large "prayer for unity", launching a message of peace.
On Friday, December 2 there was a new large assembly in the park of
Jakarta's National Monument, in which the Muslim faithful prayed and
asked again the judiciary to arrest the governor.
Indonesian Christians, along with many Muslims, joined the prayer for
peace, agreeing on the urgency of promoting the good of the country,
respect for democracy and the "Pancasila", the five principles that are
at the basis of the Indonesian Constitution and civil society in the
archipelago.
Ahok is accused of blasphemy after a speech last September, in which he
announced the candidacy for governor, and quoted the verse of a sura of
the Koran, saying that every Indonesian citizen has a legitimate right
to vote for him, while some Islamic leaders claimed that, according to
the Quran, only a Muslim can guide other Muslims.
According to political observers, in Indonesia there is an ongoing
confrontation between the front of reformers led by President Joko
Widodo and governor Ahok, and oppositions of former President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono, who are using militant Islam as a means to counter
the reformists.
The accusation of blasphemy against the governor of
Jakarta should be inserted in this frame of exploitation of the Islamic
faith.