Today was supposed to be the first court date for the divorce trial between jailed former Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama and his wife Veronica Tan, but the opening hearing has been postponed until February 7 as neither Veronica nor her lawyers were in attendance.
Even so, there’s been a big development in the highly-publicized case. Fifi Lety Indra, Ahok’s sister and his lawyer, spoke to the media to confirm what had basically already become public knowledge after court documents leaked online weeks ago: Ahok is filing for divorce because of Veronica Tan’s alleged infidelity.
According to Fifi, Veronica has been in an extramarital relationship with a man named Julianto Tio for the past 7 years.
“What’s clear is that Vero (Veronica’s nickname) is a victim here. What must be known is Julianto Tio is a ‘deadly’ seducer,” Fifi told the press today, as quoted by Detik.
“I hope with this statement there won’t be any more lies out there. And to Julianto Tio especially, stop disturbing, leave Vero in peace.”
According to Fifi, Ahok has repeatedly tried to save his marriage by pleading with Julianto to leave Veronica alone, especially since Julianto himself is married and has children.
“Ahok gentlemanly went to see Julianto Tio to plead. Imagine, a governor, pleading,” she said.
Ahok and Veronica’s eldest son, Sean, also went to see Julianto to ask him to stop seeing his mother. However, Fifi said Julianto and Veronica’s affair continued even after Ahok was imprisoned for blasphemy, with the final straw being Fifi catching them together at an event in Singapore in November.
Ahok officially filed for divorce from Veronica and custody of their children on January 5.
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