Jacob's supporters vow to occupy ICW's office
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
About 100 people rallied in front of the South Jakarta office of the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) on Saturday following the latter's plan to report Minister of Manpower Jacob Nuwa Wea to the police.
The protesters accused the watchdog of slandering Jacob with its findings on alleged corruption involving the minister, and threatened to occupy the ICW office if it failed to apologize to Jacob within three days.
They said they represented the Jakarta Bulls (Banteng Jakarta) and Eksponen 27 Juli ("Figures of July 27" in reference to the violent 1996 attack on the headquarters of the then Indonesian Democratic Party). Banteng Jakarta is reportedly affiliated to the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) led by President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
The protest was peaceful, and Ade Irawan, one of the few ICW staffers at the office at the time, said nothing had been damaged.
Earlier, ICW deputy coordinator Danang Widoyoko said he planned to report Jacob to the police after the latter grabbed him, hit the back of his head and swore at him at the end of a Metro TV talk show, ignoring the stunned host, Desi Anwar. The talk show on migrant workers, including the incident, was aired live late on Wednesday.
Danang had raised the results of an ICW investigation based on reports from the public that instead of holding a proper assessment of insurance firms to cater for migrant workers, the minister had given his personal recommendation for the appointment of five insurance firms, as part of a government policy to provide a special insurance scheme for migrant workers. Jacob denied the allegation,
Rafael Redy, chairman of Eksponen 27 Juli, of which Jacob is a member, said in a statement made available to the media that Danang should publish an apology to the minister in five national dailies within three days, or else more people would be mobilized to occupy the ICW offices.
Eksponen 27 Juli also accused ICW and Metro TV of conspiring to unseat Jacob. "The discussion was about finding a solution to the migrant worker problem but it got diverted and ended up with Minister Jacob being accused of corruption ..." Rafael said at a press conference held at the Minister's office.