Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, popularly known as Ahok, was sentenced to two years in prison after courts found the him guilty of blasphemy yesterday. Ahok, who had become popular because of his stance against corruption, lost his re-election bid for the governor role to Anies Baswedan last month.

Questions surround the future of Indonesia 's reputation for tolerance after the conviction of the Christian Chinese governor of Jakarta on blasphemy charges yesterday.

Jakarta's Christian governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, popularly known as Ahok, arrives at a courtroom for his verdict and sentence in his blasphemy trial in Jakarta on May 9, 2017.

Ahok's loss at the polls has partly been attributed to blasphemy charges brought against him last year. He had suggested in a speech last September that some Islamic politicians were using a verse in the Koran for political means. The verse he referred to has been interpreted by some as barring Muslims from accepting non-Muslim leaders.

Markets in Indonesia reversed gains in the trading session yesterday to close lower following news of the ruling. Still, the impact on equity investors is likely to be short-term, said Hugo Brennan, an analyst at Verisk Maplecroft.

However, the ruling could have a more significant impact on corporates thinking about entering Indonesia. "The case highlights their concerns about the lack of rule of law and an increasingly fractious political environment," Brennan said.

While judges involved in the case were adamant that the ruling was not politically motivated, many were left unconvinced.

Indonesians took to social media after the verdict, with some using the hashtag #RIPhukum (#RIPlaw) on Twitter to highlight how they felt about the lack of justice in the verdict. Others compared Ahok to political leaders who had been imprisoned in the past, including Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi and the late Nelson Mandela.

Experts also alluded to the political nature of the case.

"It's hard to see this for anything other than what it appears — a politically-motivated sentence to appease hardline Islamists groups and politicians with a vested interested in seeing Ahok's political career go up in smoke," said Brennan.