No, blasphemy convict and former Jakarta governor Ahok has not been released from prison

This article is more than one year old.
Published on December 19, 2018 at 13:00
2 min read
By AFP Indonesia

A Facebook post shared thousands of times claims that blasphemy convict and former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama has been released from prison. The claim is false and a spokesman for Indonesia’s prison system told AFP that Purnama, popularly known as Ahok, is still in jail.

The post, which has been shared more than 2,600 times since it was posted on Facebook on November 29, contains an image showing Ahok with Indonesian politician Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Screenshot of misleading Facebook post

The post’s caption says: “Finally, Mr. Ahok is freed. To all fans of former Jakarta governor Ahok, let’s visit him, today he is released from jail and soon will re-enter politics to fight corruptors.”

In May 2017, Purnama was sentenced for two years in prison for insulting Islam in a comment he made when he was unsuccessfully seeking reelection as Jakarta governor.

Here is AFP’s story about his conviction.

The misleading Facebook post was flooded with comments celebrating Ahok’s release.

Snapshot of a comment of the post.

One comment says: “Welcome back my hero. I love you full Mr. Ahok. Just fight the elite who robbed people’s money. Stay healthy, Mr. Ahok.”

Ade Kusmanto, a spokesman for Indonesia’s directorate general for prisons, told AFP that Purnama was still in jail.

The politician is likely to be released in January 2019 -- five months ahead of the set end of his prison term -- thanks to a series of sentence reductions, Kusmanto said.

“Ahok was given sentence reductions for behaving well and having served more than six months of his term,” Kusmanto said.

"He obtained sentence reduction of three months and fifteen days. Thus, as the prison term began on May 9, 2017, he is likely to be released in January 2019."

Indonesian media have reported extensively on Purnama's case but no Indonesian media have mentioned Purnama being released from prison.

However, popular news outlets like Tempo and Detik have reported on his likely release on January 24, 2019.

Nana Riwayatie, Purnama's step sister, told AFP that he was still in prison.

"Yes, he's still jailed at the Mako," she said, referring to a detention centre turned high-security prison at Indonesia's national police mobile brigade headquarters, or Mako Brimob, where Purnama is serving his sentence.

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