Ismira Lutfia - A rights activist on Sunday criticized the National Police for missing the point when they filed a criminal complaint against Tempo magazine over a cover caricature of a policeman being led by piggy banks.

Sophie Richardson, the Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said the criminal complaint against Tempo made it clear that despite claims to have reformed, many government officials and institutions in Indonesia, including the police, were unwilling to tolerate healthy criticism and public debate.

"The claim that their objection relates to the magazine's cover art rather than the contents of the article alleging corruption in the police force is ultimately irrelevant," Richardson said.

The cover of Tempo's edition released last Monday depicted a police officer being led by three piggy banks on a leash, while the cover story, titled "Fat Accounts of Police Generals," took a look at the allegedly outsized bank accounts of six National Police generals.

In Tempo's English edition, released on Thursday, the cover art has been changed with one of the piggy banks moved to cover the face of an anonymous senior police officer.

Brig. Gen. Zainuri Lubis, deputy spokesman for the National Police, said on Wednesday that 900,000 police officers across the country and their families had been slighted by the caricature on the cover of the Indonesian-language edition.

"We felt insulted by the cover, not the report," Zainuri said on Wednesday. "We will file a criminal and civil suit against Tempo magazine."

Pork is haram, or forbidden, for Muslims to eat, and the term pig is considered a strong insult by most Indonesians. Tempo has said the piggy banks on the cover represented the bank accounts referred to in the story.

Richardson said the police had chosen to attack a highly respected media outlet with criminal charges, rather than responding to allegations of corruption within the force by launching an independent investigation.

"To make matters worse, officials from the very institution that filed the criminal claim against Tempo will be responsible for investigating it," she said.

"This poses a serious conflict of interest and calls into question the ability of the police to conduct an impartial investigation. As we have seen again and again, as long as Indonesia's criminal defamation laws remain valid, they will be open for use as a tool of retaliation by public officials against those who criticize them."

Analysts say that even if Tempo eventually prevails against the police in court, the case could serve to deter further criticism of the force.