Gowa Regent's Inquiry Rights Reported to Bareskrim, Deemed a Private Matter

The process of the Gowa DPRD’s inquiry rights against Gowa Regent Sitti Husniah Talenrang was reported to the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim) on Thursday (2/7). The complaint was filed by legal representatives of the Gowa community because the special committee’s material was deemed to have entered the private domain, including the live broadcast of alleged immoral acts. Muallim Bahar, the legal counsel for the Gowa community, stated there were three main issues reported to Bareskrim. These range from the alleged misuse of the DPRD Gowa’s inquiry rights special committee budget, the live broadcast of alleged immoral acts, to the dissemination of hoax information. “We are the legal representatives of the Gowa Regency community, South Sulawesi Province, present at the National Police Headquarters regarding a criminal report on the entire series of the inquiry rights process,” he told reporters at Bareskrim. He also highlighted the live broadcast of the special committee session discussing the alleged immoral conduct of the Gowa Regent. According to him, this has the potential to violate privacy because the material discussed has never been legally decided. “The second is the broadcasting of the alleged immoral act, which was allegedly committed by the Gowa Regent and was broadcast live,” he said. Furthermore, Muallim admitted he was baffled by the material on alleged immoral acts being opened in a special committee forum and broadcast to the public. He noted that such matters are not even opened to the public in court proceedings. “Even in a public court, a trial for an immoral case is closed to the public, a divorce trial is also closed to the public, yet this DPRD (Gowa) is stripping things bare. This is what we consider a violation of the rules, which is why we are reporting the institution,” he said. Previously, Gowa Regent Sitti Husniah Talenrang also expressed her objection to the discussion of the inquiry rights special committee, which she felt had entered her personal domain. She stressed that the DPRD’s oversight function should remain within the corridor of public policy. The Gowa DPRD’s inquiry rights currently highlight three issues: the alleged abuse of authority in the revocation of a doctoral scholarship, alleged irregularities in the procurement of free school uniforms, and alleged disgraceful acts related to the administration of regional governance.