Blasphemy

[zoogs]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/05/jakarta-governor-ahok-guilty-blasphemy-170509041001684.html

An Indonesian court has found Jakarta's outgoing Christian governor guilty of blasphemy against Islam.

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, also known as Ahok, was sentenced to two years imprisonment on Tuesday in a south Jakarta courtroom over comments he made regarding what he believed to be the misinterpretation of certain verses of the Quran.

As hundreds of protesters gathered outside calling for the maximum penalty to be given, Dwiarso Budi Santiarto, the presiding judge, told the court that Purnama was "convincingly guilty of committing blasphemy".

Purnama has denied wrongdoing, though he apologised for comments he made last year criticising his opponents' use of the Quran in political campaigning suggesting to Muslim constituents that they cannot be governed by a person of another faith.

"Religious freedom". He lost the election, and they're actually (potentially) going to #LockHimUp.

Stephen Fry was also the subject of an actual blasphemy probe in Ireland. It was dropped. Thankfully, the punishments in the event of a conviction were much lighter and there was also much, much less interest in the prosecution. But perhaps we can imagine how such cases would go if our society were as ruled by fervent proponents of deference to [certain] religions.