Moses Ompusunggu, Jakarta – Former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has expressed disappointment over what he says is a lack of response to a complaint he made over the alleged wiretapping of a phone conversation he recently had with Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) leader Ma'ruf Amin.
"Law enforcers have not responded properly to the allegedly politically motivated wiretapping," Yudhoyono, the Democratic Party chairman, told a gathering of party executives at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) in South Jakarta on Tuesday evening.
The legal team of Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama claimed during a hearing of his blasphemy trial that they had evidence that Yudhoyono and Ma'ruf were involved in a telephone conversation in which the former reportedly urged the cleric to issue an edict declaring that Ahok had committed blasphemy.
Ahok will compete against Yudhoyono's eldest son Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono in the Feb. 15 Jakarta gubernatorial election. National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian has denied that the force had wiretapped Yudhoyono's phone.
Agus also previously echoed his father's complaint, saying illegal wiretapping could undermine democracy. "We are seeking justice. All Indonesians could experience such a thing, couldn't they?" he said during a campaign event on Friday.
One of Ahok's defense lawyers, Humphrey Djemat, however, said that evidence of two people having a telephone conversation was not necessarily in the form of a wiretapped recording. (bbs)