Former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, also known by Ahok who is serving a two-year jail term for blasphemy, will be a free man on January 24, said a Law and Human Rights Ministry official on Monday (Dec 10).
The early release date for the politician was set after taking into consideration the remission he will receive as a Christian during the upcoming Christmas holidays.
“Ahok will gain a total remission of three months and 15 days,” said Ms Sri Puguh Budi Utami, who is the ministry’s Director-General for Correctional Affairs.
Ms Sri Puguh was speaking to Tempo journalists during a visit to the news organisation with Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly on Monday.
Indonesia’s remission system takes into consideration national holidays such as Christmas and Independence Day.
At the discretion of the Law and Human Rights Minister, an inmate with good behaviour could see between 15 and 60 days cut from his sentence for each holiday he is eligible to celebrate within his jail term.
Basuki was sentenced to two years’ jail in May last year after a Jakarta court found him guilty of blasphemy against Islam.
The controversial sentence was handed down weeks after he had lost the Jakarta gubernatorial election to Mr Anies Baswedan.
He was eligible for parole in August but had turned it down in hope of an early release.
Source: Straits Times
Photo: CNN