Chusnul named suspect in defamation case

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.