Indonesian minister adamant on blasphemy law after governor's jailing

JAKARTA: Indonesia's religion minister insisted Monday that the country retain its blasphemy law despite an outcry over the jailing of Jakarta's Christian governor for a perceived insult to the Quran. 
Thousands of Indonesians at home and abroad have rallied in support of Basuki Tjahaja Purnama after a court sentenced him to two years in prison last week for remarks he made about the Quran that were deemed blasphemous by some Muslims. 
Rights groups have urged Indonesia to do away with the blasphemy laws, while the European Union and the United Nations have expressed concern about the sentence.  
"Considering our country's diversity, there needs to be a legal mechanism to settle a dispute over blasphemy," said Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Saifuddin, according to news website Republika.co.id 
"The issue is not the law, but how the courts deliver justice," he said.
Indonesians had expected Purnama to receive a slap on the wrist after prosecutors recommended a one-year suspended sentence.
Purnama is challenging the verdict. Prosecutors said they have filed an appeal seeking a more lenient sentence. 
Since Purnama was sent to prison May 9, vigils have been held by his supporters across Indonesia as well as in Australia, the United States and Canada.
Purnama lost a re-election bid in last month's gubernatorial run-off to a Muslim candidate, Anies Baswedan, despite securing the most votes in a three-way first-round poll on February 15.
In September, Purnama said his opponents had "lied" to them by saying the Quran prohibited them from voting for a non-Muslim governor.
Hundreds of thousands of conservative Muslims demanded his prosecution at rallies in the months that followed.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, but Christians make up about 10% of its 250 million people. — dpa