Anticorruption activists draw ire of officials
Anticorruption activists draw ire of officials
Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon, West Java
Local prosecutors have brought a criminal charge against a group
of activists who staged a rally on Wednesday to urge a serious
investigation into corruption scandals in Cirebon, West Java.
Wednesday's demonstration ended with the activists hurling
rotten eggs and tomatoes at the Cirebon Prosecutor's Office and
lowering the Red and White national flag at the compound to half-
mast.
Prosecutors said on Saturday the protesters, grouped in the
Coalition of Cirebon Students and Youths (KMPC), were reported to
police over charges of insulting a state institution and the
Indonesian flag.
"Directly after the protest, we reported them to the police
because it became anarchic and they defamed a governmental
institution and the Red and White flag," senior prosecutor Basuki
said.
He said the anticorruption activists could be charged with
violating Article 154 of the Criminal Code on defamation of the
government, which carries a maximum penalty of seven years in
prison.
They also breached Article 154(a) of the Criminal Code on
insulting the national flag, which has a maximum four-year
sentence, he added.
Cirebon Police chief of detectives Adj. Comr. Taufik Asrori
confirmed that police had received a formal complaint from the
prosecutors. "It was filed on Thursday," he said.
He said the police could not yet name the activists suspects
in the case, as they were reviewing the case before summoning
them for questioning.
"We will examine whether the prosecutors' complaint can be
followed up," Taufik said.
Meanwhile, KMPC spokesman Agung Supirno denied the charges
against him and other activists over the demonstration.
The lowering of the flag was not intended to belittle the
national symbol, he argued. "The Red and White is the flag of my
and all other students' nation. It's impossible for us to
disparage what we all respect," Agung said.
He said the move was aimed at pressuring the prosecutors to
seriously investigate corruption cases in Cirebon, which had
contributed to unresolved poverty problems in the country.
During Wednesday's protest, the activists highlighted a graft
scandal involving Rp 1.3 billion (US$151,162) from the 2001
Cirebon budget, in which all 30 councillors and former mayor
Lesmana Suriatmadja were declared suspects; but the probe into
case dragged.
The demonstrators also demanded that chief prosecutor Suraini
Dahlan relinquish her post.
"We consider her to have failed in leading the Cirebon
Prosecutor's Office in fighting corruption. Therefore, we want
her to resign. Cirebon does not need a prosecutor who has no
courage to eradicate corruption," Agung said.
Ahead of the noisy protest, 19 KMPC members had staged a
hunger strike at the prosecutor's office from March 16 to April
1.