ICC Note:
Jakarta Gov. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, commonly known by Ahok, is standing trial while campaigning for governship in Indonesia. According to Ahok, the Muslims pushing for his conviction want “to dig up [Indonesia’s] present [constitutional] foundation and build a new one. How come?” Instead of being angry about his situation, Ahok is “happy that history chose [him] for this position” because his case is “putting these crucial questions before the Indonesian public.” Indonesia ranks among the top fifty of the world’s worst persecutors of Christians, according to Open Doors. As a Christian running for a government position, Ahok is criticized and persecuted despite the ethical and religious overtones involved in his case.  
02/08/2017 Indonesia (npr) – As he wends his way through the crowded alleys of a low-income neighborhood, Jakarta Gov. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama stops to pick up a young Muslim girl in a headscarf, as residents and reporters snap pictures.
He stops at a local mosque, where an all female-percussion team strikes up a groove with drums and tambourines to cheer him on in his campaign for re-election.
None of his supporters seem to mind that Basuki, commonly known by his Chinese nickname, “Ahok,” is Christian and an ethnic Chinese — the first time such a person has governed the capital.
Why should they? Indonesia is proud of its reputation as not only the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, but also the most tolerant and moderate in the Islamic world, home to millions of Hindus and Christians as well as Shiite, Ahmadiyya and other minorities within Islam.
But even as he campaigns for the governorship, Ahok is standing trial, accused of blasphemy against Islam. If convicted, he faces a maximum jail term of five years, and very few people charged with this offense in Indonesia manage to beat the rap.
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