Jakarta’s jailed Christian governor yesterday appealed his conviction for blaspheming Islam, his legal team said, as the UN stepped up pressure on Indonesia to overturn the controversial sentence.
Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, known by his nickname Ahok, was jailed on May 9 for two years for insulting the Koran, a shock decision that has undermined a reputation for religious tolerance in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.
Lawyers for Purnama, who is in detention, filed the appeal to the Jakarta High Court.
They believe the judges’ decision did not properly take into account testimony from defense witnesses, lawyer Ronny Talapessy told reporters.
“The verdict not only stunned us and the prosecutors, the whole world was left in disbelief,” Talapessy said.
The lawyers also urged the court to release Purnama, Jakarta’s first non-Muslim governor for 50 years and its first ethnic Chinese leader, on bail while his appeal is ongoing.
The sentence was widely criticized as too harsh after prosecutors had demanded that he be given just two years’ probation.
Prosecutors in the case have already filed an appeal against the decision to jail Purnama.
The appeal came as a group of UN human rights experts urged Indonesia to free the 50-year-old and repeal the country’s blasphemy laws, which critics say have been repeatedly used to target minorities.
“We urge the government to overturn Mr Purnama’s sentence on appeal or to extend to him whatever form of clemency may be available under Indonesian law so that he may be released from prison immediately,” said a statement from the experts, who included special rapporteurs on freedom of religion and freedom of expression.
Purnama was hauled into court last year to face trial for allegedly insulting Islam while campaigning for re-election, after the claims sparked major protests in Jakarta.
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