REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - The May 5 (55) rally is not being held to apply pressure on the court that tends to indict Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) with a leaner sentence, an activist stated.

"We are not questioning the indictment," cleric Zaitun Rasmin, deputy chairman of the National Movement to Safeguard the Indonesian Ulama Council's Fatwa (GNPF-MUI), stated while giving directives to the participants of the Sympathetic Action 55 at the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta on Friday.

He noted that the rally this time was focused on conveying prayers to God, so that the Almightly will give strength to Muslims in facing several cases. While offering prayers, the Muslims are expected to remain humble and sincere. 

"Allah will answer our prayers if they are conveyed in a humble and sincere manner," cleric Zaitun remarked. 

Ahok is currently undergoing a legal process in court as a suspect in an alleged religious blasphemy case. 

The prosecutors have demanded that the North Jakarta District Court sentence Ahok to one year's imprisonment and to place him on probation for two years over blasphemy charges during the 18th trial in Jakarta on April 20.

"Hence, it is concluded that Jakarta Governor Ahok has been legitimately proven and has convincingly met formulations of the criminal element in line with the second alternative Article No. 156 of the Criminal Code," Ali Mukartono, the chief prosecutor, stated during the trial held by the North Jakarta District Court at the Agriculture Ministry in Jakarta on April 20.

Also read: Chairman of GNPF asks the society to accept judges' decision on Ahok's case

Supporters of the GNPF-MUI staged a sympathetic rally called "Sympathetic Action 55" on Friday. The GNPF-MUI urged the participants to hold the rally while maintaining order, cleanliness, and peace. 

In the meantime, preacher Adnan Harahap of the Istiqlal Mosque, in his sermons on Friday, called on Muslims to continue to change themselves for the better to realize a respectable, well-mannered, and dignified community.

Muslims should, in any circumstances, spread peace and be beneficial to the people in their surroundings and not the other way round, the preacher of the Friday prayer emphasized.

"At least they should not disadvantage others," he added.

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