Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – An antigraft watchdog has called for the acquittal of two men facing defamation charges in Central Aceh, saying they were just doing their jobs when they reported corruption allegations possibly involving a district head.

The Aceh Anti-Graft Movement (GeRAK Aceh) said on Tuesday that the Takengon District Court must free anticorruption activists Idrus Saputra and Hamdani, who had dared to file their findings in regard to Central Aceh district head Nasaruddin with police. The men ended up jailed, accused of defaming the official.

GeRAK Aceh coordinator Askhalani said the defendants, members of the Central Aceh Anti-Graft Coalition (Jang-Ko), had reported to police suspicious population numbers they thought might have been inflated. The numbers led to 5 seats being added to the 25-seat Central Aceh legislative council in early 2009.

"However, instead of following up on the graft allegations by Jang-Ko, police began to look into a report filed by Nasaruddin against these two activists, accusing them of defamation," Askhalani said.

He added that the allegations had been raised by the activists based on glaring discrepancies found in population numbers issued by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), registered voters lists issued by the Independent Committee for Election Monitoring (KIPP) and official population records from the local administration.

"This case has become very political, which is why we humbly request the panel of judges presiding over this defamation case to annul all charges brought against these two activists," Askhalani said.

"Ever since police started to investigate this defamation case, all of the anticorruption activists in Central Aceh have been unable to do their jobs – which is to monitor indications of corruption by government officials," he added.

"The concentration of these activists has been broken because of the police investigations, so they are no longer able to focus on their anticorruption campaigns."

Askhalani also urged law enforcers in Central Aceh to finally start investigating the possible corruption of the Central Aceh district head, as raised by Jang-Ko, as well as the inflated numbers of the district's population.

"If it is proven [that the numbers were manipulated] then it is clearly a violation of the law, and police should question the Central Aceh district head about it."