Activists Declared Suspects in Minister Luhut's Defamation Case

TheIndonesia.co - Jakarta Metro Police has announced human rights activists Haris Azhar and Fatia Maulidiyanti as suspects in a defamation case reported by Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.

Chief of public relations at Jakarta Metro Police Pol. Grand Commissioner Endra Zulpan confirmed on Saturday, March 19, that both Azhar and Maulidiyanti were named as suspects after they were accused of defamation by Pandjaitan.

“Yes, the two of them have been named as suspects,” Zulpan said, as reported by Antara.

He added that since mediation efforts failed, the case has been upgraded to investigation.

In September, Pandjaitan filed a defamation lawsuit against Azhar and Maulidiyanti after the activists said in a video that the Coordinating Minister had a part in mining business in Intan Jaya, Papua.

Prior to the police report, Pandjaitan demanded apology from the two activists, but as it wasn’t met, he proceeded with legal complaint.

And on Monday, Azhar and Maulidiyanti were summoned to the Jakarta Metro Police headquarters in relation to the case.

“This is politically charged, and it’s an effort to silence me and civilians. This also shows discrimination in law enforcement,” Azhar commented.

He arrived at the police headquarters at about 10.47 local time and was accompanied by chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) Muhamad Isnur and a number of other advocates.

Zulpan said Haris will be questioned about elements of the alleged defamation in the video.

“The content is the evidence. Whether or not the content belongs to him, and whether or not it violated the ITE [Information and Electronic Transactions] Law – those will be investigated.”