Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Sidoarjo – A Shiite leader from Sampang, East Java, Tajul Muluk, has been forced to remain incarcerated at Sidoarjo Penitentiary even though his detention period ended last week, according to his lawyer, Asfinawati.

Asfinawati said that according to an East Java High Court ruling, Tajul's detention period officially ended on Oct. 9. However, he was not released, despite the fact that the Supreme Court has yet to extend his detention period.

"Sidoarjo Penitentiary officials said that it was common [for a prisoner to remain in prison even though the Supreme Court had not extended his detention period]," she told The Jakarta Post, adding that the court insisted on keeping Tajul in prison until the Supreme Court issued such a ruling.

Tajul – whose house and boarding school were burned down by an angry mob in December 2011 – appealed the Sampang District Court's July verdict that sentenced him to two years in prison for blasphemy.

However, the East Java High Court rejected his appeal and raised the sentence to four years' imprisonment in September. He is currently challenging the latest verdict at the Supreme Court. Tajul was found guilty of preaching that the present-day Koran was not the original version.

Around 200 of Tajul's followers remain sheltered at an indoor tennis center in Sampang with minimal facilities after their houses were set ablaze and two Shiites were killed in another mob attack in August. (cor/swd)