Callistasia Anggun Wijaya, Jakarta – Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama slammed the testimonies of witnesses presented by prosecutors in the fourth hearing of his blasphemy case on Tuesday, saying that several were deceitful.
In one example, Ahok cited the testimony of Islam Defenders Front (FPI) Jakarta chapter secretary general Novel Bamukmin, who claimed that on Sept. 27, many Thousand Islands residents had phoned him and complained about Ahok's blasphemous remarks regarding Surah Al Maidah 51.
"When we asked him who had called him, he said that he had erased the SMSs and calls from his phone history. We will ask the police to obtain data from his phone provider to see how many Thousand Islands residents called him on the afternoon of Sept. 27," Ahok said in a press conference after the hearing at the Agriculture Ministry's auditorium on Jl. RM Harsono, Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta.
Ahok, who said earlier that no Thousand Islands residents were angered by his speech, added that in the hearing, Novel had accused him of killing two of his fellow FPI members. The governor later said Novel had now orchestrated a case to imprison him.
"If it is later proven that Novel gave false testimony in court, I hope he can be imprisoned for seven years," Ahok said, referring to relevant provisions in the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP).
It was further said that Ahok and his legal team had also discovered that another witness, Gus Joy, had lied about his status as a lawyer. Gus Joy himself had admitted that he had never been officially sworn in as a lawyer; but he had acted as if he were a lawyer, Ahok said. (ebf)