Indonesian presidential candidate Joko Widodo gestures to supporters during a campaign rally in Medan, North Sumatra on June 10, 2014. Joko’s lawyer filed an official report with the police on a tabloid named ‘Obor Rakyat’ (People’s Torch) for publishing reports saying that Joko, a Muslim, was instead a Chinese Christian. (Reuters Photo/Y.T. Haryono)
Jakarta. Presidential candidate Joko Widodo on Monday officially reported a tabloid alleged to have published slanderous content against him to the National Police.
“We reported anyone responsible [to the police] after first filing a report to the Election Monitoring Board [Bawaslu],” Joko’s lawyer Taufik Basari said on Monday at the National Police headquarters. “We concluded that this is a criminal case and can be charged, we don’t want such practice to happen again.”
Taufik added that the report was aimed at stopping the distribution of the tabloid, named “Obor Rakyat” (People’s Torch), which is distributed in Islamic boarding schools and mosques across Java.
The tabloid recently published reports saying that Joko, a Muslim, was instead a Chinese Christian.
“We reported the editor in chief and the news editor, S.B. [Setiyardi Budiono] and D.S. [Darmawan Sepriyossa], and we also asked the police to track down other people because we believe there are other people involved as this tabloid was distributed in several places,” Taufik said.
He added that the two editors were reported for defamation and for spreading hatred based on the 2008 presidential election law, which prohibits such actions.
“We are also still hoping that there will be an explanation from the State Palace about the status of Setiyardi, who claimed to be a special staff to the president,” Taufik said, referring to the president’s office.
Setiyardi, a commissioner at the state-owned plantation company PTPN XIII, claimed he decided to establish the tabloid as a form of protest against Joko, who is running for president.
Setiyardi has refuted allegations that the tabloid he founded was a black campaign against Joko, who is the governor of Jakarta.
By Farouk Arnaz on 06:29 pm Jun 16, 2014
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