Jakarta governor Ahok found guilty of blasphemy

The outgoing governor of Jakarta has been sentenced to two years in prison for blasphemy and inciting violence.

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, known as Ahok, was the first ethnic Chinese Christian to run Indonesia’s capital, and the case was seen as a test of the country’s religious tolerance.

He was accused of insulting Islam by referring to a verse in the Koran during a campaign speech.

Mr Purnama denied blasphemy and in court said he would mount an appeal.

The sentence is harsher than most observers had expected – prosecutors had called for a suspended one-year sentence.

The governor was “found to have legitimately and convincingly conducted a criminal act of blasphemy, and because of that we have imposed two years of imprisonment,” the judge told the court.

Source: BBC