Jakarta: The former governor of Indonesia's capital will be released from prison on Thursday, nearly two years after being jailed for blasphemy against Islam. And Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, who is commonly known as Ahok, is widely tipped to re-enter Indonesian politics – though that is unlikely to happen until after the April 17 presidential election, according to his long-time friend and human rights campaigner Andreas Harsono. Ahok, who is an ethnically Chinese Christian, took over as governor of Jakarta when Joko Widodo was elected President in 2014. Former Jakarta governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama talks to his lawyers after his sentencing in May last year. Credit:AP In September 2016, Ahok was accused of blasphemy after he suggested a verse of the Koran did not state that Muslims could not be led by a non-Muslim.<doc-sep>A minority-Chinese Christian former governor of Jakarta has been released from prison today after serving nearly two years for committing blasphemy against Islam. Key points: The former Jakarta governor will be released early under Indonesian leniency laws The former Jakarta governor will be released early under Indonesian leniency laws Indonesia's President has been criticised for not being "Muslim enough" in the past Indonesia's President has been criticised for not being "Muslim enough" in the past Analysts said the proposed early release of a radical cleric was to "counter" the potential impact of the governor's release Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, commonly known as Ahok, was jailed in 2017 for comments he made in 2016 about the Koran while he was the governor of Indonesia's capital city. The comments sparked a mass protest by tens of thousands of conservative Muslim hardliners in Jakarta, while his jailing was criticised for undermining the country's pluralist democracy. Loading Mr Purnama has been released three-and-a-half months early under Indonesia's prisoner remission laws, where prisoners are granted leniency on public holidays and for good behaviour. He has publicly asked to not be greeted on release through a letter published on his social media account by his publicity team, but many of his supporters gathered outside Mako Brimob Prison in West Java since last night wearing his signature checked shirt. Tim Lindsey, director of the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society at the University of Melbourne, said Mr Purnama's release was happening during a sensitive time in Indonesian politics — just three months shy of the presidential elections. "Anything that happens at the moment that connects to religious politics or Jokowi [Joko Widodo] is going to have an impact," he told the ABC. Adding that there's "no doubt an attempt would be made to turn it into a major issue" by Mr Widodo's opponents. Protesters took to the streets of Jakarta in 2016, demanding Mr Purnama be jailed. ( Reuters: Beawiharta Beawiharta Prison release backtrack on Abu Bakar Bashir Last week, Mr Widodo — who has been criticised by his political opponents for not being "Muslim enough" — announced the early release of radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, in the same week as Mr Purnama. Bashir has been described as the "mastermind" behind the 2002 Bali bombings and is currently serving 15 years' jail for other terrorism-related charges. Dr Lindsey said the move was a sign of the "anxiety in Jokowi's camp about the potential impact of Ahok's release". "[Ahok] is closely associated with Jokowi; if he releases Bashir, who is a poster-boy of hardliners, then any attempts to re-raise Ahok's blasphemy charge and slur Jokowi with it would be countered by the release of Bashir," he said. "Releasing Bashir after two-thirds of his sentence would counteract the possible damage to his campaign due to the release of Ahok." Abu Bakar Bashir turned 80 last year, and has been released after nine years in prison. ( ABC News: David Lipson However, the backlash of the announcement domestically and overseas has seemingly led Mr Widodo to back away from the decision. Mr Widodo has previously been criticised by his opposition for his lack of Islamic credentials, resulting in his party choosing hardline Islamic cleric Ma'ruf Amin. Mr Amin, who was the former head of the peak Islamic body Indonesian Muslim Ulama Council, was also integral in the blasphemy trial of Ahok. Dr Lindsey said Mr Widodo and the party's decision to select Mr Amin had been quite off-putting for his moderate voters and had "damaged Jokowi in the eyes of many of his supporters". He said it was still unclear whether supporters of Ahok were still fans of Jokowi. A letter from prison and an uncertain political future Loading Earlier this month, Mr Purnama released a handwritten letter on social media asking for his supporters to no longer refer to him as Ahok, reportedly the Chinese name his father gave him, but to refer to him as BTP — the initials of his name. He wrote that he had grown into a different person during his time in prison, and also asked his supporters — who are popularly known as "Ahokers" — to not greet him during his release. "In the last two years, I have learnt control over myself," he wrote. "If I was re-elected, I'd probably be more arrogant, rude, and hurting more people," he said, apologising for his past words and conduct. Mr Purnama has been seen by his domestic supporters as a symbol of pluralism and tolerance, but Dr Lindsey said he had also become a reminder of how "Jokowi abandoned those he sees as an electoral liability" and how "weak" the President was in defending pluralism. "Whether he's going to reposition himself as the champion of pluralism remains to be seen. If he does, he might be the only one left in the Indonesian public sphere to do that," Dr Lindsey said. "To openly support pluralism and religious and ethnic tolerance in Indonesia… at the moment, it's a dangerous thing to do. It's courageous to the point of being foolhardy." Dr Lindsey added that a move back into politics could pose a significant risk to Mr Purnama's personal safety as the convicted blasphemer could be ruthlessly targeted by conservative Muslim groups. "It will be difficult to say whether Ahok is an asset or liability for Jokowi," he said. Fears Ahok could be used as a political tool Former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama is to become a free man after serving almost two years in prison. ( ABC News: Phil Hemingway Meanwhile, one Indonesian political expert urged politicians, particularly Mr Wibowo and Prabowo Subianto as presidential candidates, to not see the release of Ahok as a political opportunity. Philip Vermonte, the executive director of Centre For Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Indonesia, told the ABC it was best for both parties to stay away from making public comments during a time when the nation was fragmented. "It will be easier to create political turmoil if either Jokowi or Ahok do something that could be perceived by others as an act of provocation," Mr Vermonte said. "We saw that Jokowi has been neutral in Ahok's case and I hope he won't make Ahok a political proxy to mobilise masses to support him. "That would be better for not only Jokowi and Ahok, but for the whole country."<doc-sep>
Jakarta’s former governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, best known as “Ahok”, has been released from prison after serving out his controversial two-year sentence for insulting Islam. The Indonesian politician was controversially jailed in May 2017 after a court found him guilty of blasphemy for a comment he made while campaigning for re-election. Last year a movie documenting his life, “A Man Called Ahok” was released in Indonesian cinemas, igniting rumours he plans to resume his political career upon his release. He walked free from the high-security Mako Brimob detention facility in Depok, West Java, early Thursday morning after receiving more than three months’ in remissions. Ahok – who in a recent letter from prison asked his supporters to refer to him by his initials “BTP” rather than his Chinese nickname – was met by outside the prison by supporters clad in red, blue and white shirts, chanting “BTP, BTP, BTP”. The jailing of the former governor – who an anomaly in Indonesian politics as a minority Christian and Chinese – was widely condemned by rights groups, with critics saying the sentence was a blow to religious tolerance and free speech, while others suggested the Indonesian judiciary had succumbed to mob rule. Doctored footage of Ahok’s comments – which made it appear he had directly insulted the Qur’an rather than the conservative Islamic clerics citing it – spread quickly in 2017, sparking huge Islamist-inspired political protests that have had a lasting impact on the politics of the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation. Supporters of former Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, take a selfie in front of wreaths sent by well-wishers outside a police prison in Depok, Indonesia, on Thursday. Photograph: Tatan Syuflana/AP The straight-talking politician did not appeal against his sentence, but strangely state prosecutors did – saying it was harsher than the sentence they had recommended. But in a recent letter posted on his official Instagram account, Ahok said he would serve his time all over again. Allow Instagram content? This article includes content provided by Instagram . We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'. Allow and continue “If we could go back in time and someone asked which would you choose [Going to prison or winning the election] I would say I choose to be imprisoned at Mako to study for two years, so that I could maintain self-discipline for the rest of my life,” he wrote, “If I were re-elected, I would have become more arrogant, rough, and I would have hurt people.” Ahok became Jakarta’s governor in April 2014, inheriting it as then-deputy governor after Joko Widodo was elected president. He lost the gubernatorial race three years later. Figures close to Ahok say he has voiced support for the re-election of Widodo in the upcoming April vote, even though the incumbent’s running mate Ma’ruf Amin, an elderly Islamic cleric, testified against him in the 2017 blasphemy trial. To his fans Ahok was a politician who worked hard to improve the capital, tackling corruption, revamping public space, and reducing chronic floods and traffic, but his policy of forced evictions also angered many. Often considered abrasive, in an interview with the Guardian he once jokingly referred to himself as the “Godfather of Jakarta”. During his time in prison Ahok has kept a low profile.