REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SURABAYA -- The Surabaya Court has found ustaz Alfian Tanjung guilty of hate speech against former Jakarta governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok), during a sermon at Mujahidin Mosque, Surabaya.
The panel of judges led by Dedi Fardiman sentenced the cleric to two years in prison for his crime.
“The defendant Alfian Tanjungis proven guilty of committing hate speech," Dedi said on Wednesday (December 13).
The sentence was lighter than that demanded by prosecutors, which was three years of imprisonment.
Nevertheless, ustaz Alfian could not take the verdict. He wanted to file an appeal.
"I can not take it and will appeal the verdict," he said.
Also read: Police questions cleric Alfian Tanjung as suspect
The case was filed to Surabaya Police by a citizen, Sudjatmiko, on April 11. He downloaded from Youtube a video of ustaz Alfian speech at Mujahidin Mosque, Surabaya. The video was aploaded to Youtube on February 26.
Sudjatmiko believed it contained hate speech against Ahok which allegedly violated Article 16 Jo. Article 4 letter b number 2 of Law no. 40 of 2008 on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and Ethnic Criminal Code.
Meanwhile, on May 9, Ahok was sentenced for two years in jail for blasphemy.