Hary Tanoesoedibjo Reports Allan Nairn to Metro Jaya Police
26 April 2017 15:14 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Unity Party (Perindo) chairman Hari Tanoesoedibjo has filed a police report against US journalist Allan Nairn. Perindo legal division head Chris Taufik said that Allan is accused of defaming Hary for referring to him as a financial backer of a mass demonstration staged in November last year that demanded Ahok be jailed for blasphemy.
The police report was filed on Nairn’s investigative article published on local media Tirto.id titled "Ahok Hanyalah Dalih untuk Makar" (a translation of published The Intercept piece titled 'Trump's Indonesian Allies In Bed With ISIS-Backed Militia Seeking to Oust Elected President'). According to Chris, Hary has denied the reports. He also pointed to the lack of specific information in the piece.
Hary, the owner of media giant MNC Group, has denied Allan's claims that he had tried to reach him for comment on the report. "He said that a request for comment had been made, that [Hary] had declined to comment. When was the request made? [He] never have received one," Chris said.
Chris said that Hary prefers to file a police report since he feels that Nairn had violated the law. An option to resolve the dispute through the Press Council, he said, will only be taken to address works of journalism. Chris expects the police to immediately name a suspect in the case. "It's not a journalistic product. There was no 'check and balance', the sources were obscure," Chris said.
Earlier, Nairn's piece had invoked a reaction from the National Armed Forces (TNI). The TNI Headquarters spokesman Major General Wuryanto believed that the piece—which said that the TNI had planned to overthrow the government by backing the anti-Ahok rallies—was not based on facts. The TNI had opted to file a complaint with the Press Council. "We should have been asked for comment," Chris said.
Tirto.id chief editor Atmaji Sapta Anggoro said he will take responsibility for the publishing of the report. "Should the Press Council summoned [tirto.id], we will surely cooperate and be ready to comply," Atmaji said.
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