The Volokh Conspiracy
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Indonesian capital's first Christian governor sentenced to two years in prison for blasphemy
The BBC reports:
An Indonesian court has sentenced Jakarta's first Christian governor [Basuki Tjahaja Purnama] to two years in prison for insulting Islam….
In the mass protests against the governor, the crowd warned that if he was not found guilty they would stage a revolution and overthrow the national government.
The Independent (UK) (Fergus Jensen):
The lead judge, Dwiarso Budi Santiarto, said his comment during an election campaign that people were being deceived if they believed the Quran forbids Muslims from voting for non-Muslims had degraded and insulted Islam.
"As part of a religious society, the defendant should be careful to not use words with negative connotations regarding the symbols of religions including the religion of the defendant himself," he said.
The BBC reports that the government has also announced "that they would move to disband the local branch of the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir—which campaigns for the implementation of Islamic law and has taken part in the protests against Governor Purnama."
