Haeril Halim, Jakarta – The National Police have opened an investigation into Erwin Natosmal Oemar of the Indonesian Legal Roundtable (ILR) after he criticized the police during a televised talk show in August.
In a summons letter to Erwin, the police said they wanted to clarify the remarks he delivered on a tvOne talk show. During the program, Erwin called the National Police "a criminalization engine" to describe the various criminal charges that were slapped on former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) commissioners Abraham Samad and Bambang Widjojanto as well as senior investigator Novel Baswedan by the police following the antigraft body's move to name Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan a suspect in a bribery case last year.
In response to the summons, Erwin said it was suspicious that the police had opened the case this year despite the fact that the show was aired on Aug. 25. "There's something suspicious about the probe," Erwin told The Jakarta Post on Monday, confirming that he was scheduled to be questioned on Feb. 4.
In a letter explaining the case issued by the police on Dec. 28, the police claimed that Erwin had tarnished the image of the National Police with his statement.
The new probe adds to the long list of defamation investigations on antigraft activists for public criticism of figures deemed counterproductive in the fight against corruption.
The police have questioned Emerson Yuntho and Adnan Topan Husodo of Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) and former KPK advisor Said Zainal Abidin, who was reported by law professor Romli Atmasasmita for slanderous remarks allegedly made by Said in print media.
Said wrote a piece concerning Romli's possible appointment to the government's committee tasked with selecting the KPK leadership, and Romli did not take kindly to Said's thoughts.
The police have also named as suspects former Judicial Commission chairman Suparman Marzuki and former commissioner Taufiqurrohman Syahuri for criticizing South Jakarta District Court judge Sarpin Rizaldi for his controversial verdict in rejecting the corruption charges against Budi.
National Police director for the general investigations division Brig. Gen. Agus Andrianto confirmed the police probe into Erwin, adding that investigators working on the case had yet to name any suspects, but called on Erwin to answer the police summons in order to solve the case. "We hope [he] will be cooperative," Agus added.
Erwin's lawyer, Asep Komarudin, lambasted the National Police for ignoring a recommendation from the Press Council to hand over Erwin's case to the council because a talk show constituted a journalistic product protected by the Press Law.
"If the police move ahead with this investigation, then no one will want to come and talk on talk shows in the future. This is a threat to freedom of expression," Asep told the Post on Monday.
Asep reminded the National Police to honor the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) they signed with the Press Council in 2012 in which both parties agreed to cooperate on all police reports involving journalistic pieces.
Earlier, the National Police ignored the Press Council's call to stop their investigations into Emerson, Adnan, Zainal, Suparman and Taufiqurrohman.