Mayor defies police summons in election partiality case
Mayor defies police summons in election partiality case
Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon
Subardi, the mayor of Cirebon, West Java, said on Tuesday he would not meet a police summons for questioning on suspicions of breaking the Presidential Elections Law by campaigning for President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
Speaking to journalists, Subardi claimed he was too busy preparing a meeting for mayors grouped in the Indonesian City Administrations Association (Apeksi), which will be held in Cirebon on Wednesday, so he could not comply with the summons.
Subardi said he would instead send his lawyers to represent him at the questioning scheduled for Wednesday.
Cirebon Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Siswandi said the mayor's lawyers could not represent him in the investigation.
He added the police did not require permission from the West Java governor or the home minister to interrogate the mayor in the case.
"Specifically for election-related crimes, investigations into state officials like the Cirebon mayor require no permission from their superiors, so we will go ahead with questioning him," Siswandi said.
He said the police had received the case file and hard evidence against Subardi from the Cirebon Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) for follow-up.
The evidence includes a video compact disc (VCD) showing the mayor campaigning for Megawati-Hasyim Muzadi ahead of the Sept. 20 election runoff.
In the VCD footage, Subardi is seen officiating the establishment of the Mega-Hasyim Campaign Forum and appealing to people gathered at the Sept. 16 meeting to vote for Megawati.
"We need the T-shirt bearing the pictures of Mega-Hasyim, which was worn by the mayor. I have asked my subordinates to coordinate with the Panwaslu to finish gathering the evidence," Siswandi said.
The Panwaslu declared Subardi on Monday a suspect of the election partiality case, charging him with violating election laws in campaigning for Megawati.
The charges carry a maximum penalty of six months in prison and a Rp 6 million (US$666) fine if the suspect is found guilty.
Subardi, from Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), also broke Government Regulation No. 9/2003 on election campaigns, under which state officials must obtain permission from official poll organizers to campaign, the Panwaslu said.