REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Jakarta governor candidate Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono said he did not know what message delivered by his father, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), to KH Ma'ruf Amin through phone call as accused by the legal advisor of the defendant on religious blasphemy case, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok).
Previously, during the trial, Ahok's lawyer said the former president SBY called Kiai Ma'ruf to issue a fatwa on the alleged religious blasphemy committed by Ahok. "Ask Pak SBY (about the content of message conveyed by phone call to Kiai Ma'ruf. I did not know," he said in Hotel Borobudur, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday.
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Agus admitted, he did send his father message to Kiai Ma'ruf when he visited Central Board of Nahdlatul Ulama's office on Friday, October 7, 2016. SBY asked Agus to deliver respectful greetings to Kiai Ma'ruf. "It was a salutation as fellow leaders and citizens. I think it was very reasonable and ethical. There was no other message than that," he said.
Agus reiterated that SBY did not told him to convey an appeal to Kiai Ma'ruf to immediately issue a fatwa about the alleged blasphemy committed by Ahok. "If anyone said so, it was a vile slander. It was a slander to destroy the unity among us all," he said.