REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – The defendant on religious blasphemy case, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok), stated his objection towards the testimony of the Chairman of Indonesian Council of Ulama (MUI), KH Ma'ruf Amin. One of the objections was related to his statement that he never had a call from the former Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY).

"I also objected his denial on the meeting with the (Jakarta gubernatorial election) candidate number 1 on October 7, 2016. It was clear that the witness hide his history of being a member of presidential advisory board of SBY,” said Ahok after listening to Kiai Ma’ruf’s testimony in the Auditorium of Agricultural Ministry, South Jakarta, on Tuesday.

Also read: Ahok’s lawyer tries to link SBY and the issuance of MUI religious statement

According to Ahok, Kiai Ma’ruf met the pair of candidate number 1, Agus – Sylvi, in the Central Advisory of Nahdlatul Ulama office on October 7, 2016. He believed that Kiai Ma’ruf also had a call from SBY on October 6, 2017.  "And on October 6 and 7, there was an evidence of (SBY) call, asked for a meeting. It means that he was inappropriate to be a witness, because he could not be objective. It led to a support to the candidate number 1,” said Ahok.

During the testimony session, Kiai Ma’ruf denied the allegation. However, Ahok said he would take a legal action because he has evidence that Kiai Ma’ruf gave a false statement. “So it was clear on October 7, 2016. I thanked to the witness because he insisted to say he did not lie. But, if you lied, we would take a legal action to prove that he had given false statement,” Ahok said. 

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