Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, known as Ahok, was the first ethnic Chinese Christian to run Indonesia’s capital, and the case was seen as a test of the country’s religious tolerance.

He was accused of insulting Islam by referring to a verse in the Koran during a campaign speech.

Mr Purnama denied blasphemy and in court said he would mount an appeal.

The sentence is harsher than most observers had expected – prosecutors had called for a suspended one-year sentence.

The governor was “found to have legitimately and convincingly conducted a criminal act of blasphemy, and because of that we have imposed two years of imprisonment,” the judge told the court.

Riot police outside court

Mr Purnama was accused of blasphemy for comments he made during a pre-election speech last September.

He implied that Islamic leaders were trying to trick voters by using a verse in the Koran to argue that Muslims should not vote for a non-Muslim leader.

His remarks, which were widely shared in an edited video, sparked outrage among religious hardliners.

They staged regular large rallies calling for him to face trial.

Throughout the trial, Mr Purnama denied wrongdoing, but did apologise for his comments nonetheless.

Ahead of the verdict, protesters for and against Mr Purnama had gathered outside the court demanding respectively his acquittal or a long prison sentence.

Disappointed with the eventual verdict, some protesters demanded the outgoing governor to be hanged.

Around 15,000 security personnel from the police and military are providing security at the scene, with riot police and armoured vehicles separating the rival groups.

Mr Purnama became governor after his predecessor, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, was elected president in 2014.

As an ethnic Chinese Indonesian and Christian he is a double minority, and was Jakarta’s first non-Muslim governor for 50 years.

His political success was also seen as a significant development given the violent anti-Chinese riots that occurred in the city in 1998.

Before the blasphemy allegations, he had been widely hailed as a straight-talking politician with a strong anti-corruption stance

But the controversy overshadowed scheduled elections last month.

Despite his enduring popularity with many in Jakarta for his efforts to improve living standards, he lost to conservative Muslim candidate Anies Rasyid Baswedan.

Indonesia is the world’s most-populous Muslim country. About 85% of its population are Muslim, but the country officially respects six religions.

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Source: BBC

The post Jakarta governor Ahok found guilty of blasphemy appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Facebook has agreed to send a team to Pakistan to address reservations about content on the social media site, according to the interior ministry.

Blasphemy is a highly sensitive and incendiary issue in Pakistan.

Critics say blasphemy laws, which allow the death penalty in some cases, are often misused to oppress minorities.

Earlier this week Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif voiced his support for a wide-ranging crackdown on blasphemous content on social media.

In a statement on his party’s official Twitter account, he described blasphemy as an “unpardonable offence”.

‘Should share information’

Then on Thursday, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar reasserted Pakistan’s determination to tackle the issue, saying he would take “any steps necessary” to make sure Pakistan’s message gets across.

He said he had asked officials to liaise with the FBI in the US and with social media platforms on a daily basis.

“Facebook and other service providers should share all information about the people behind this blasphemous content with us,” he is quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper.

In a statement quoted by the AP news agency, Facebook said it viewed government requests with care keeping in mind “the goal of protecting the privacy and rights of our users.

“We disclose information about accounts solely in accordance with our terms of service and applicable law. A Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty or other formal request may be required for international requests, and we include these in our Government Requests Report.”

Facebook has not confirmed whether it will be sending a delegation to Pakistan to address the concerns of the government.

Pakistan has often blocked access to pornographic sites and sites with anti-Islamic content and in 2010 a Pakistani court blocked Facebook after over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

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Source: BBC

The post Pakistan asks Facebook to help fight blasphemy appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.