Anita Rachman, Jakarta – Three lawmakers named by anti-tobacco activists as having been declared suspects by the police over the omission of a clause on tobacco in the 2009 health bill plan to sue the activists.
The chairwoman of House Commission IX overseeing health issues, Ribka Tjiptaning, from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), and former Golkar legislators Asiah Salekan and Mariani Baramuli, said on Thursday that they had been falsely accused.
"We are going to sue the people who have reported us to the police several times and who have named us as suspects. They said we allegedly received hundreds of billion of rupiah. That is not true," Ribka said.
"We will sue Hakim Sorimuda Pohan and Kartono Muhammad for defaming us." The three women's legal adviser, Sirra Prayuda, said the file would be submitted today.
Hakim, a former Democratic lawmaker and Commission IX member now working with the Coalition Against Corruption of the Anti-Tobacco Clause (Kakar), said on Monday that the National Police had told him the three had been named suspects.
Kartono, an antitobacco activist and former chairman of the Indonesian Doctors' Association (IDI), backed Hakim's statements. Both are vocal critics of the government's tobacco policy.
On Wednesday, Kakar presented reporters with letters from the National Police that did mention Ribka, Mariani and Asiah as suspects. However, National Police Chief of Detectives Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi rejected the allegations, saying that the letters could have involved "a typo" error.
Asyiah said neither she nor the other two women had deleted the article, which classified nicotine as an addictive substance. However, she said the tobacco growers' association had asked the House to drop the clause.
"That was only a discourse, because to drop a certain article, we have to get the agreement from all factions," she said. Sirra said the letter issued by the National Police was premature as none of the lawmakers had been summoned or questioned by police.
Umar Wahid, who coordinated discussion on the health bill, said former Health Ministry inspector general and current ministry adviser Faiq Bahfen had given the original draft to Ribka and it did not have the clause stating nicotine was an addictive substance.
The committee added the clause, which was included in the bill passed by the House, and he believed it was removed by a computer "mistake" when the committee passed the bill to the government. "I think it was an honest mistake," Umar said.
Faiq and senior health official Budi Sampurno have already been questioned.
Kartono Muhammad said he did not have a problem with Ribka's defamation suit but added that he had never mentioned names. "If it's about defamation, why don't they sue the National Police? It was the police who named them suspects, it was in the letter from the National Police," he said.