Ex-Indonesian minister convicted of hate speech

Jakarta, Dec 29 An Indonesian court has sentenced former outh and Sports Minister Roy Suryo to nine months in jail for spreading hate speech through his social media account.

Suryo was tried after he re-posted a picture of a Buddhist statue edited to resemble the face of President Joko Widodo, reports Xinhua news agency.

A Buddhist community protested and reported him to the police for alleged blasphemy which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, but the former minister was instead convicted of spreading hate speech by the court.

Suryo has apologised to the Buddhist community and said that he is not the person who doctored the picture.