Indonesia\u2019s most prominent Christian politician is to be prosecuted for blasphemy in a victory for conservative Islam in the world\u2019s biggest Muslim nation.<\/p>\n
Police named Basuki Tjahja Purnama, the governor of Jakarta, as a criminal suspect, following huge and deadly protests against him in the capital this month. The prosecution of Mr Basuki, who is also unusual among Indonesian politicians in being ethnically Chinese, brings into the open old and sometimes violent divisions between the Muslim majority and practitioners of other religions.<\/p>\n
In September, while campaigning for next year\u2019s election to the Jakarta governorship, Mr Basuki joked about political opponents who had cited Koranic verses in arguing that a Christian should not hold high office. He said that they had \u201cdeceived\u201d\u009d their audience, a statement which has been taken up by his antagonists as a blasphemous commentary on the Koran by a \u201ckafir\u201d\u009d, or non-Muslim.<\/p>\n