Jakarta – Another prosecution witness who had reported Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama to the police for alleged blasphemy, admitted at a hearing at the Agriculture Ministry's auditorium in South Jakarta on Tuesday evening that he had previously worked for the Democratic Party as a lawyer.
"I was a lawyer for the Democratic Party. But it was a long time ago. I no longer hold such a position [with the party]," witness Muhammad Burhanuddin told the court as reported by tribunnews.com. He revealed that he was formerly a lawyer for the party's executive, Andi Nurpati, for a case in 2013.
In the upcoming Jakarta gubernatorial election slated for Feb. 15, the Dems, chaired by former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono nominated his son Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono to challenge the incumbent Ahok.
However, Burhanuddin claimed that he had reported Ahok to the police for the blasphemy allegation based on his own initiative, not because of his party links. In a previous hearing, prosecution witness Gus Joy Setiawan, who had also reported Ahok, was a Dems board member.
Meanwhile, the other prosecution witnesses also include members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), a hard-line group that led several huge rallies demanding Ahok, a Christian of Chinese descent, be prosecuted for an alleged blasphemous comment he made in relation to a Quranic verse during a work visit to Thousands Islands regency in September, last year. (jun)