TEMPO.CO, Bandung – Bambie Juliansyah, the secretary general of the Indonesian Grassroot Society Movement (GMBI), said he was upbeat that the reports the movement filed against Tempo magazine with the National Police’s detective department (Bareskrim) would proceed without a hitch.
GMBI filed the police reports following the release of the magazine’s January 19-25 issue titled “Not Just A Fat Bank Account” centering on Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan’s graft case.
“We don’t see it from the journalistic viewpoint, but there are banking secrets leaked there,” Bembie told Tempo on Tuesday, March 3, 2015, adding that the weekly magazine had divulged state secrets related to the flow of suspicious cash involving the police general.
The Bareskrim has handed over the case to the Jakarta Police’s economics and special crime investigation division.
GMBI has also reported former Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) chief Yunus Husein and two Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) commissioners—now suspended—Abraham Samad and Bambang Widjojanto.
Separately, the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) has said that Tempo has not breached any regulation on banking secrecy in its reporting. AJI said there was no problem exposing the information as the public had the right to know a state official’s wealth.
Tempo chief editor Arif Zulkifli, meanwhile, said his magazine’s investigative reporting had adhered to both journalistic procedures and code of ethics.
PERSIANA GALIH