Cirebon mayor faces poll bias trial<\/p>\n
Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon<\/p>\n
Prosecutors pledged on Monday to complete the case file of the
\nmayor of the West Java city of Cirebon, Subardi, in two weeks. He
\nhas been charged with illegally campaigning for the incumbent,
\nPresident Megawati Soekarnoputri ahead of the Sept. 20 election
\nrunoff.<\/p>\n
\"We are striving to complete investigating the file on Subardi
\nin less than 14 days. After which, we will take the case to
\ncourt,\" said Herdinan Soekarsa, head of the general crimes
\ndivision of the Cirebon Prosecutor's Office.<\/p>\n
He confirmed his office had received the police's dossier on
\nFriday.<\/p>\n
Herdinan said the mayor would not be detained for the time
\nbeing, as he has been charged with an offense that carries a
\nmaximum penalty of six months in prison. Under existing laws, a
\nsuspect can only be detained if the crime they are charged with
\nis punishable with a sentence of at least five years in prison.<\/p>\n
Cirebon Police chief of detectives Adj. Comr. Eka Mulyana said
\nthere was sufficient evidence the mayor had violated Election Law
\nNo. 23\/2003, which bans state officials from publicly supporting
\na candidate's election bid.<\/p>\n
Evidence against Subardi includes a video compact disc (VCD),
\nwhich shows him participating in an event on Sept. 16 to declare
\nsupport for the reelection bid of Megawati, and her running mate
\nHasyim Muzadi.<\/p>\n
Further evidence is a T-shirt bearing a picture of Megawati
\nand Hasyim, which the mayor wore during the event in which he
\nallegedly called on people to vote for the incumbent President.<\/p>\n
The poll partiality case was reported by the Cirebon Election
\nSupervisory Committee (Panwaslu), which accused the mayor of
\nillegally campaigning for the Megawati-Hasyim ticket.<\/p>\n
Local administration secretary Ano Sutrisno admitted that
\nSubardi did not have permission from the city's General Elections
\nCommission (KPUD) to campaign, nor had he taken leave from his
\nofficial duties to do so, according to Cirebon Police chief Adj.
\nSr. Comr. Siswandi.<\/p>\n
The mayor was declared a suspect in the case after being
\nquestioned for more than six hours last Wednesday at the local
\npolice office.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Central Java's Banyumas Police chief Sr. Comr. Andi
\nMapparesa was fired by National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar
\nfor campaigning for Megawati and Hasyim ahead of the first round
\nof the election on July 5.<\/p>\n
Andi was found guilty by a police disciplinary committee of
\nbreaching his force's code of ethics for siding with a certain
\ncandidate.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Banyumas' Panwaslu accused Andi of violating the
\nConstitution as he had failed to uphold the police's impartiality
\nin the election.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/cirebon-mayor-faces-poll-bias-trial-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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