Chusnul named suspect in defamation case

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Political observer Chusnul Mar'iyah was named a suspect on Tuesday by the Jakarta Police in a slander complaint filed by telecommunication expert Roy Suryo.

Chusnul, who is a member of the General Elections Commission (KPU) and oversees IT-based ballot counting, was summoned on Tuesday for questioning.

"Police said this time they had found preliminary evidence that Chusnul had slandered Roy," said legal counsel Yosef Badeoda, who accompanied Chusnul. "So this time they summoned Ibu as suspect."

She was initially summoned as a witness for questioning on Aug. 12.

Roy reported Chusnul to the police after she allegedly accused him of selling ballot data to the campaign team of presidential candidate Wiranto's during a seminar at the ballot counting center at Borobudur Hotel on July 13 where she was one of the speakers.

Chusnul told the seminar that she just received a message sent by a person to her cellular phone, alerting her that Roy would sell the data to Wiranto.

In his report to the police, Roy quoted Chusnul: "I just received a SMS saying that an individual here in this room, Roy Suryo, will soon sell data to Wiranto's campaign team. So you should be careful not to be deceived by him."

He added that Chusnul pointed at Roy while mentioning his name. He claimed he was sitting in the second row of seats among about 300 participants, including the journalists.

Roy claimed he decided to report Chusnul to the police as she refused to talk with him and said that she had appointed a lawyer to deal with the matter.

Before the incident, Roy was continuously criticizing the performance of the KPU's IT department during the legislative election in April, saying that the ballot counting was slow.

After Roy reported Chusnul, KPU lawyer Didi Irawadi Syamsudin had warned Roy to be more careful in criticizing KPU's IT management as the commission might take legal action against him.

"Much of his criticism was based on weak data and questionable information," Didi said.

If prosecuted, Chusnul will probably be charged with violating Article 310 of the Criminal Code on slander. The offense carries a maximum penalty of nine months imprisonment.

However, police often act as a mediator in defamation cases, if the disputing parties decide not to bring the case to court.