Jakarta:  The Christian former governor of Jakarta has had his request to slash his two-year jail term for blasphemy rejected by the Supreme Court, in a blow to religious tolerance and pluralism in Indonesian.

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, widely known as Ahok, was jailed in May last year in a case that grabbed worldwide headlines.

Ahok had served as deputy government to Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and took over leadership of Indonesia's largest city in 2014 when Mr Joko was elected president.

A political maverick, Ahok was widely popular with local residents, but became a target for conservative Islamic groups who argued he had blasphemed by suggesting that some Muslims were "deceived" by verse 51 of the fifth chapter of the Koran, which some interpret as prohibiting Muslims from living under the leadership of a non-Muslim.

A spokesman for the Court, Mr Suhadi, confirmed to Fairfax Media late on Monday that the panel of three justices, chaired by Artidjo Alkotsar, had rejected Ahok’s request for a judicial review of his sentence.