REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – The legal team of defendant in religious blasphemy case, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok), would present four witnesses in the next week's trial.  “For next week, the Judges have decided that we may present four witnesses at once, including the alleviate witness,” said the member of Ahok’s legal team, Teguh Samudra, in Jakarta on Tuesday. 

Teguh said the witnesses would describe Ahok’s background of life. No ulema would be presented. “Not yet. Because they were only fact witnesses. Not a relative, but the people from Seribu Island,” said Teguh. 

In the thirteenth trial, Ahok’s legal team called three witnesses to give their testimony. The first was the Vice Chancellor of Darma Persada University, Eko Cahyono. He had ever paired with Ahok in Bangka Belitung Election 2007. 

The second witness was Ahok’s adopted brother Analta Amier. The judges refused to examine him because he ever heard other witnesses’ testimony during the trials. 

The third witness was Bambang Waluyo Wahab as the application consultant who knew Ahok. During the trial it was known that Bambang was a winning team member of Basuki Tjahaja Purnama-Djarot Saiful Hidayat in the Jakarta Election 2017. Bambang also serviced as the vice chairman of the coordinating community service and public policy of the DPD I, Golongan Karya Party. 

Ahok was accused by alternative indictments of article 156a with the threat of five years imprisonment and article 156 of the Criminal Code by the threat of four years imprisonment. 

Article 156 of the criminal code stated, whoever publicly showed enmity, hatred, and insult to other people or groups would be charged by maximum four years of imprisonment or maximum four thousand and five hundred rupiahs of fine. 

The word ‘groups’ means every element of Indonesian societies differ to the other element because of their race, origin, religion, ancestry, nationality, and their position based on the administrative law. 

Article 156a of the Criminal Code gave maximum five years of imprisonment to anyone who intentionally expressed hatred, misused the religion or conducted blasphemy to any religion in Indonesia. 

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