Jakarta governor dropping appeal in blasphemy case

The wife of Jakarta’s Christian governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama on Tuesday said her husband had withdrawn his appeal against a blasphemy conviction and two- year jail term for the good of Indonesia. But a challenge filed by prosecutors against his sentence — which was far higher than the one-year suspended jail term they had recommended — will still go ahead. Purnama was jailed this month for allegedly insulting the Quran.