JP\/3\/VCD<\/p>\n
And the 'AFI' winner is ... not Wiranto<\/p>\n
Bandung\/Yogyakarta\/Semarang
\nThe Jakarta Post<\/p>\n
Music VCDs with hidden messages are the latest weapon being
\ndeployed in a bid to derail the campaign of embattled
\npresidential candidate Gen (ret.) Wiranto.<\/p>\n
The political VCDs are disguised as bootlegs of the popular
\nIndosiar Fantasy Academy (AFI) show, a televised talent quest
\nsimilar to the popular American Idol program.<\/p>\n
The VCDs, which were being distributed to passersby in three
\ncities in the country on Thursday, begin with a recording of the
\nAFI concert, which is then interrupted by images of the Semanggi
\nand Trisakti atrocities in 1998 and 1999. A written statement
\nimplores the viewer not to vote for the Golkar Party candidate.<\/p>\n
The VCDs were being given away free at traffic lights and
\nmarkets in Bandung, Semarang and Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
This high-tech mudslinging comes days after negative campaigns
\nhave targeted other candidates. Indonesian Party of Democratic
\nStruggle candidate Megawati Soekarnoputri was the target of an
\nedict issued by Muslim clerics against voting for women
\ncandidates, while Democratic Party hopeful Susilo Bambang
\nYudhoyono was accused of his roles in the attack on the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party (PDI) headquarters in 1996.<\/p>\n
The covers of the anti-Wiranto VCDs are dominated by a yellow
\nbackground and bear the title \"Star Quest\" (Menuju Bintang).<\/p>\n
The first eight minutes of the VCD contain the recorded AFI
\nconcert, in which the two winners of AFI's first season, Veri and
\nMawar, sing a song each. Then the sound of a trumpet drowns out
\nthe singing and the AFI images are replaced by a banner with a
\nyellow background and the message: \"Prosecute General Wiranto
\nquickly, he is responsible for human rights violations in the
\nTrisakti and Semanggi I & II incidents. Please do not vote for
\npresidential candidates with military backgrounds.\"<\/p>\n
The VCDs then show documentary footage of the Trisakti and
\nSemanggi tragedies in which student activists were shot by
\nmembers of the armed forces. A small picture of Wiranto and the
\nmessage \"Reject Wiranto\" sit on the top left of the TV screen.
\nThe images last for about 40 minutes.<\/p>\n
The Trisakti and Semanggi incidents happened in 1998 and 1999,
\nwhen Wiranto was at the helm of the Indonesian Armed Forces
\n(ABRI), now the Indonesian Military (TNI).<\/p>\n
In Bandung, a motorcycle taxi (ojek) driver, Dadan Toling, 30,
\nsaid he was given the VCD by people getting out of a minivan in
\nthe Sindangjaya subdistrict on Thursday.<\/p>\n
In Yogyakarta, Gandung Pardiman, the chairman of the Wiranto-
\nSolahudin Wahid campaign team, said campaigners had found 63
\nsimilar VCDs in several places in the city.<\/p>\n
\"The VCDs are distributed by irresponsible parties and those
\nwho aim to discredit Wiranto,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Suyatno Pedro, a member of the Wiranto campaign in Semarang,
\nrejected as absurd allegations the VCDs were being distributed by
\nWiranto's team to give the impression he was the victim of a
\ndirty campaign.<\/p>\n
Wiranto has been criticized by politicians, human rights
\ngroups and the media about his alleged involvement in the mayhem
\ncaused by Indonesian militias in Dili in 1999. He has been
\nindicted for war crimes by a United Nations-backed East Timor
\ncourt.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp3vcd-1447899208",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}