Christian Governor of Jakarta denies with tearful eyes of blasphemy in court proceedings

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Indonesia: December 14, 2016. Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama Christian governor of capital city Jakarta faced court hearing today where he denied that he committed any blasphemy with tearful eyes but trial was adjourned till December 20, 2016. On next hearing prosecutor will present response to the exception conveyed by the suspect and his lawyers. The head of the prosecution team, Ali Mukartono, said they would prepare materials for next week’s hearing. “We have composed the draft of our response. We will further discuss it for the next hearing," Ali said. On Tuesday, prosecutors read out their indictments against the incumbent governor. Prosecutors said Ahok’s citation of Surah Al Maidah 51 in his speech in front of local residents during his working visit to Thousand Islands on Sept. 27 constituted blasphemy. They further said Ahok aimed to influence voters ahead of the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election. Soon after prosecutors finished reading out their indictments, Ahok conveyed his exception. Speaking in tears, Ahok claimed that he had never intended to insult Islam and ulemas. After the hearing, Ahok’s legal team expressed their disappointment over his client's prosecution, which they deemed “irregular” and “heavily influenced” by public pressure.

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On demand of our readers, I have decided to release E-Book version of "Trial of Pakistani Christian Nation" on website of PCP which can also be viewed on website of Pakistan Christian Congress www.pakistanchristiancongress.org . You can read chapter wise by clicking tab on left handside of PDF format of E-Book.

nazirbhattipcc@aol.com , pakistanchristianpost@yahoo.com