Haris Azhar Refuses to Testify for Prabowo in Elections Dispute

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Executive director of Lokataru, Haris Azhar, will not be testifying for Prabowo Subianto and Sandiaga Uno in the presidential elections dispute at the Constitutional Court. Haris sent a letter to the court judges saying he was unwilling to testify. 

The letter was given to the Court judges today, June 19. 

Haris was supposed to have testified in court, as he was among the witnesses that the lawyers of Prabowo and Sandiaga planned to present.

Just this morning, Haris was still saying that that he would testify about the confessions of Sulman Azis, former chief of the Pasirwangi Police Precinct of Garut, West Java. Sulman had told Haris that he was instructed by Garut Police chief to map out and mobilize support for Joko Widodo-Ma'ruf Amin.

Haris acted as Sulman's pro bono lawyer, but Sulman retracted his statement not long after. 

In his letter to the court, Haris said that the panel of judges can use his prior statements, and said that it would be more appropriate if Sulman himself testify. 

Haris explained that he helped Sulman purely on the basis of his own profession as an advocate. Considering the fact that Sulman is a police officer that should remain neutral, Haris likened Sulman' status to that of a whistleblower.  

"To me, Sulman Aziz revealed the names of areas and members of the police force who were instructed to support Joko Widodo and Ma'ruf Amin," he said.

Haris Azhar, a former coordinator of KONTRAS, asserted his opinion of the two presidential contenders—saying that both campaign teams have records of human rights violations. 

Jokowi, he said, did not do his duty to solve cases of human rights violations during his first term as president. Meanwhile, Prabowo is, according to Komnas HAM, is one of the people responsible for the kidnappings and missing persons case during the period of 1997-1998.

Budiarti Utami Putri

Read: Court Rejects Prabowo Camp's Request for Witness Protection