Eka Yudha Pratama, Jakarta – Director of Lokataru Foundation Haris Azhar, who was named as a suspect for a defamation case against coordinating minister of Maritime Affairs and Investments Luhut Pandjaitan, claims to have hard evidence suggesting the minister's involvement in a mining business in Papua.

The activist also says that these pieces of evidence have been handed over to the Metro Jaya Police to further the investigation.

Accompanied by his lawyer Nurkholis Hidayat, Haris said the evidence he presented to police investigators are no longer research papers by nine NGOs as stated in a Youtube video – which Luhut used as the basis for his police report – but is actually the actual data used for the study.

The data he claims will incriminate the minister is a statute from an Australian mining company which states there are company shares distributed to companies that are affiliated to Luhut Pandjaitan.

"We have participated in the examination twice, when we were reported and after being named a suspect. But the investigators never asked us about the company details or the evidence that provided the company's information," said Azhar at the Metro Jaya Police headquarters on March 23.

He said, if police deem his data evidence to be false, police must prosecute those that issued the data, which he says comes from the Ministry of Law and Human Rights. "I assure you this document is an official source and not produced by ourselves," he explained.

Haris Azhar also urged police to treat the case fairly by considering the pieces of evidence he and his legal team submitted.

"The plaintiff says equality before the law. Now we also have the right to present evidence and be tested as a suspect," Haris asserts.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson for Luhut Pandaitan, Jodi Mahardi, responded to the case by stating that the minister is willing to reveal data and is "not worried as [the minister] knows for sure there is no such business. The ones that should be worried are the ones who made the rushed study."

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/1574275/haris-azhar-claims-to-have-evidence-incriminating-luhut-pandjaita