We were all rather surprised to see Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama caught on video (watch it here) during a loud quarrel with a citizen at City Hall. Now it seems that Ahok had a pretty good reason to get upset.

It turns out that the so-called “citizen” was actually a lawyer.

“That person wasn’t a citizen, he was a lawyer who was representing someone in a land dispute case. And then usually [people like that] divide the profits,” Ahok said at City Hall today, as quoted by Merdeka. 

Ahok explained that the disputed land in question could not be rightfully owned by anyone. But the lawyer offered to win the case in court for the poor old woman in the wheelchair who he took with him to see Ahok.

In order to have a chance at winning the case, the lawyer needed testimonies from district and village heads of the area.

“Of course we won’t give him our district and village heads. He asked for my help, I couldn’t give him help. So he threatened me by saying if I don’t force my district and village heads to meet with him, he’d stand in front of my car with the old woman and die [by getting run over],” Ahok said.

“Is that ethical? I’m not angry with the citizen. But he was acing like a terrorist. Would you want that to happen to you? So I fought back as he held the old woman who knew nothing hostage, just so we would give him a letter.”

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