Activist ignores police summons

JAKARTA: The chairman of the Jakarta Residents Forum, Azaz Tigor Nainggolan, failed to answer a summons from the city police on Monday morning, when he was to be questioned as a suspect in defamation case involving Governor Sutiyoso.

Tigor said he did not answer the summons because it did not clearly state who he was suspected of defaming.

"The summons just stated that I was charged with defamation. The name of the person that I allegedly defamed was not stated in the summons, which arrived on Friday," he said.

Tigor said he was charged with violating Article 11 of the Criminal Code on defamation, which carries a maximum punishment of four years in jail.

He claimed dozens of lawyers from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, the Jakarta Social Institute and other organizations were prepared to defend him.

Sutiyoso filed a complaint against Tigor with the police, based on comments attributed to the activist in newspapers that Sutiyoso had given city councillors Rp 3 billion (US$322,580) to accept his accountability speech. -- JP