An Indonesian court has ruled the blasphemy prosecution of Jakarta's Christian Governor will proceed. Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, known by his nickname Ahok, is accused of insulting the Koran, a case seen as a test of religious freedom in the Muslim-majority country. Ahok's legal team had argued the blasphemy prosecution should be dismissed because it had violated the ethnic Chinese politician's human rights and breached procedures, but a panel of judges disagreed. "The exception by the defendant will be considered and decided by the court after examination of all evidence. The defendant's exception is not accepted," Judge Abdul Rosyad said. It was the Governor's last chance to stop the trial, which is unlikely to be finished before the city's gubernatorial elections in mid-February. A tearful Ahok denied at his first hearing on December 13 that he had intended to insult the Koran while he was campaigning ahead of elections in February for the governorship of Jakarta, capital of the world's largest Muslim-majority nation. Hundreds of white-clad Muslim protesters chanted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) outside the court in north Jakarta on Tuesday and called for the jailing of the Governor.
