U.S. Muslim reformer blasts Indonesia for jailing Christian governor on trumped-up blasphemy charge

Indonesia earlier this week threw a Christian outgoing governor in the slammer for “blasphemy.”

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, also known as Ahok,  was convicted earlier this week of the “crime” of saying the Koran allows non-Muslims to rule over Muslims.

The comment was followed by months of protests by radicals — some demonstrations saw hundreds of thousands of people — calling for Ahok to be punished.

Experts said Ahok committed no crime, and that his conviction amounted to the government caving to the demands of radical Islamist riff-raff.

Many Indonesians are wondering whether this is just the beginning, and whether radical Islamists will grow even more powerful, at a time when radical Islamist ideology is spreading throughout Southeast Asia. 

Across the ocean in the United States, moderate Muslims are concerned.

Zuhdi Jasser, an American Mulism reformist and president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, told Borderless News Online that Indonesia is plagued by the worsening threat of radical Islam.

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