North Sumatra HMI Finds No Intervention by Chief Prosecutor in Professorship Nomination
Medan (ANTARA) — The Coordinating Body (Badko) of the Islamic Students’ Association (HMI) of North Sumatra has assessed that there was no intervention by the North Sumatra High Prosecutor, Harli Siregar, in a professorship nomination.
The Chairman of Badko HMI North Sumatra, Muhammad Yusril Mahendra, said allegations regarding the professorship nomination involving the North Sumatra High Prosecution Office needed to be addressed proportionally.
“Since he took office as North Sumatra Chief Prosecutor, there has never been any act of intervention. That is a commitment he has always upheld as a law enforcement official,” said Hendra in Medan on Thursday.
Hendra said that based on information received, the incident in question occurred when Harli was still serving as Head of the Attorney General’s Public Information Centre (Kapuspenkum).
At that time, he said, there had been a public complaint from a lecturer from Bangka Belitung who felt obstructed in the process of applying for a professorship by assessors, particularly regarding the evaluation of academic journals.
As part of the Public Information Centre’s duties, Hendra said every public complaint must be received and forwarded to the relevant institutions.
It was in that context that communication was made with officials at the Ministry of Higher Education, including the Deputy Minister and the Inspector General, solely to convey the existence of the complaint.
“That was not a form of intervention, but rather the channelling of public aspirations. Even after the information was conveyed, the individual concerned (the lecturer) dealt directly with the ministry. There was no further interference,” he said.
Furthermore, he added that the communication was not based on any personal relationship. Harli was said to have never met the Deputy Minister of Higher Education in person prior to the inauguration ceremony for the Rector of the University of North Sumatra.
He therefore said the circulating narrative was considered incomplete and tended to be one-sided.
Badko HMI North Sumatra also expressed regret over the circulation of video clips on social media that were deemed not to have sought direct confirmation from the parties concerned before shaping public opinion.
“Every state institution has a mechanism for handling public complaints. The Public Information Centre receives and forwards public reports from various backgrounds every day. It is incorrect to directly associate that with intervention,” he said.
The organisation called on all parties to uphold the principle of the presumption of innocence and not to build opinions without comprehensive clarification from all parties involved.