Governor guilty of insulting Islam

JAKARTA, Indonesia — An Indonesian court found the Christian governor of the country’s capital, Jakarta, guilty of blasphemy against Islam on Tuesday, sentencing him to two years in prison in a case widely seen as a test of religious tolerance and free speech.

The governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, was defeated last month by Anies Baswedan, a former minister of education and culture, in an election in which the blasphemy case and religionwere major issues.

Basuki began his sentence Tuesday. Deputy Gov. Djarot Saiful Hidayat is to serve as acting governor until October, when Anies takes office.

Blasphemy is a crime in Indonesia, a secular democracy with the world’s largest Muslim population. The sentence was harsher than what prosecutors had asked for. They had recommended a sentence of two years’ probation on a lesser charge, which would have spared Basuki prison time.

Basuki told reporters that he would appeal the ruling.

Basuki’s 16-point defeat last month was seen as a sign of the increasing power of Islamic conservatives, who have pressed for the adoption of Islamic law, or Shariah, throughout Indonesia.

Basuki, who is ethnic Chinese, was only the city’s second non-Muslim governor.

He had been leading in the polls last year, but in September his campaign faltered when he tried to address attacks from Muslim hard-liners who argued that the Quran forbade Muslims from voting for a non-Muslim. Basuki said those making that argument were misleading Muslims, a statement that was interpreted by some as insulting the Quran.