Ex-Jakarta governor Ahok to be freed on Jan 24

JAKARTA: Former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (pic), who is serving a two-year jail term for blasphemy, will be a free man on Jan 24, said a Law and Human Rights Ministry official.

The early release date for the politician, best known by his Chinese nickname Ahok, was set after taking into consideration the remission he will receive as a Christian during the upcoming Christmas holidays.

“Ahok will gain a total remission of three months and 15 days,” said Sri Puguh Budi Utami, who is the ministry’s Director-General for Correctional Affairs.

Sri Puguh was speaking to Tempo journalists during a visit to the news organisation with Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly on Monday.

Indonesia’s remission system takes into consideration national holidays such as Christmas and Independence Day.

At the discretion of the

Law and Human Rights Minister, an inmate with good behaviour could see between 15 and 60 days cut from his sentence for each holiday he is eligible to celebrate within his jail term.

Basuki was sentenced to two years’ jail in May last year after a Jakarta court found him guilty of blasphemy against Islam.

The controversial sentence was handed down weeks after he had lost the Jakarta gubernatorial election to Anies Baswedan.

He was eligible for parole in August but had turned it down in hope of an early release.

Prior to his downfall, Basuki was poised to make history as the first elected governor of Indonesia’s capital Jakarta who is not only Chinese but also Christian.

But his straight-talking manner and championing of pluralism, which endeared him to many, also saw his opponents turning that against him.

They pounced on a speech he had made in September 2016, when he referred to the Quran and told constituents not to be deceived by his opponents who say Muslims cannot elect a non-Muslim leader.

Hardline groups such as the Islamic Defenders Front rallied hundreds of thousands of Muslims to take to the streets in protest.

Critics panned the heavier-than-expected sentence, saying the court had bowed to pressure from hardline groups. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network