Golkar official pushes for prosecution of soothsayer
Golkar official pushes for prosecution of soothsayer
JAKARTA (JP): A Golkar official visited the Attorney General's Office yesterday to push the ruling political group's campaign to prosecute soothsayer Permadi Satrio Wiwoho for slander.
Agung Laksono, deputy chairman of Golkar's central executive board, met with deputy attorney general Mohammad Hasan to discuss the plan to prosecute the mystic for comparing Golkar to the outlawed Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).
"We found that parts of his address at a Gadjah Mada University seminar on April 20 last year were clearly disparaging the reputation of Golkar. They were also slanderous and not based on facts," Agung reported.
In his speech, Agung said, Permadi essentially accused Golkar of "being worse" than the PKI. "Such a statement clearly offended Golkar and we could not let him get away with that.
"Golkar was at the front line in crushing the communist forces in Indonesia. But now we have this accusation."
PKI, one of the largest political parties in Indonesia in the early 1960s, was accused of masterminding the coup attempt against then President Sukarno in September 1965. The party was outlawed the following year.
Golkar formally filed a complaint with the police accusing Permadi of slander on March 25.
Permadi, who has been in police custody since March, is also facing charges of blaspheming Islam during the same seminar at Gadjah Mada university last year.
Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher has also announced his intention to sue the soothsayer for accusing his ministry of embezzling haj pilgrimage funds.
Permadi has denied the allegations of blasphemy, saying that his remarks were taken out of context and manipulated by his critics. He has not, however, denied the accusations levied by Golkar and Tarmizi.
"We hope the Attorney General's Office will be able to take our case to court," Agung said, pointing out that he had been asked by Golkar chairman Harmoko to pursue the matter.
Golkar's determination is also expected to encourage other members of the public to resolve their problems through legal channels instead of taking the law into their own hands, he said.
There were a series of street demonstrations calling for Permadi's head in March following the disclosure of his remarks. The protests subsided after the authorities promised to investigate.
Agung came to the Attorney General's Office accompanied by lawyers from LPPH, a legal aid institute affiliated with the political organization. The lawyers were Farida Kadariyah, Martin Hutabarat, Taufik Hidayat and Sofyan Sukri.
"We hope the investigation will begin soon," Agung said, adding that to support the case, Golkar will present a cassette recording of the seminar, a transcript of the seminar and clippings from Gatra newsweekly which quote some of Permadi's remarks. (emb)