Two-year prison term for Ahok in blasphemy trial seen as sign of growing Islamism Jakarta’s Christian governor Ahok sentenced to two years jail Muslim protestors shout slogans against former Jakarta governor outside the courtroom on Tuesday © AP AN HOUR AGO by: Jon Emont in Jakarta Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, Jakarta’s first Christian governor in decades and one of the most prominent non-Muslim politicians in Indonesian history, was sentenced to two years in prison for blasphemy on Tuesday, the latest indication of increasing religious conservatism in the world’s most populous Muslim nation. Head judge Dwiarso Budi Santiarto read the verdict that Mr Purnama, widely known as Ahok, had “convincingly conducted a criminal act of blasphemy, and because of that we have imposed two years of imprisonment”. The case stems from an episode late last year on the campaign trail for the Jakarta gubernatorial election, when Mr Purnama gave a speech suggesting that some Muslim clerics were improperly citing a Koranic verse. Videos of his speech spread around the internet, arousing huge Islamist demonstrations against him. Mr Purnama ultimately lost his re-election bid in mid-April, an outcome widely chalked up to the candidate’s defiance of conservative Muslim figures. Former Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, centre, talks to his lawyers after his sentencing hearing at a court in Jakarta on Tuesday © AP The hard-charging Mr Purnama was targeted by his political enemies as soon as he was promoted to governor in 2014, after Joko Widodo, the serving governor, was elected president of Indonesia. Thousands of protesters gathered then to demonstrate against the ascent of a non-Muslim to this crucial governorship. But for the first 18 months of Mr Purnama’s mandate as Jakarta governor, the Islamist groups had a hard time making trouble, as Jakartans overwhelmingly considered him to be non-corrupt and effective. Mr Purnama was seen as being in such a strong position for re-election in 2017 that major political parties lobbied for him to lead their ticket, with even some moderate Islamist parties ultimately endorsing his re-election bid. However, the campaign speech where Mr Purnama gave advice on how to properly interpret the Koran was the slip-up the hardliners had been looking for. Mr Purnama’s camp says it will appeal against the prison sentence. The unexpected verdict is seen as merely the latest sign of the growing power of religious conservatives to shape national politics. “This outcome means that reactionary voices will gain in legitimacy, it will strengthen religious conservatism here,” said Savic Ali, a progressive Muslim journalist and activist affiliated with Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia’s largest Muslim organisation. Mr Ali said he was worried that the court had been swayed by the crowds calling for Mr Purnama’s imprisonment, and that hardliners would now replicate the tactic of using mass demonstrations to protest against perceived blasphemy. “It’s a huge risk. Blasphemy is relative. Many Muslim figures didn’t think Ahok insulted Islam,” he said, referring to the governor by his nickname. Shortly after Mr Purnama lost his election bid in April prosecutors recommended that he receive a suspended sentence that would have him avoid jail-time. But the judges overruled the prosecutor’s recommendation, opting to sentence him for two years. “We can only speculate about the political motives behind this, whether this was intended to further discredit Ahok and the team behind him,” said Charlotte Setijadi, visiting fellow at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. “The sentence sends an intimidating message to aspiring politicians from ethnic and religious minority groups.” It comes at a time when Mr Widodo, Indonesia’s pluralist president and an ally of the embattled Mr Purnama, has been aggressively seeking to increase foreign investment but has been coming up short. “The case introduces a level of uncertainty and volatility in Indonesia that firms weren’t expecting,” said Douglas Ramage, managing director of Bower Group Asia, an investment advisory firm. “It’s one more thing that goes into the negative column when major firms are looking to make investments in the region.”