Police Intimidate PDI-P Presidential Election Campaign With Investigation into Spurious Complaints against Campaign Spokesperson, and Former Popular TV Personality, Aiman Witjaksono

By Fika Nurul Ulya and Jessi Carina for Kompas.com, January 27, 2024

CIREBON, KOMPAS.com – PDI-P presidential candidate Mr. Ganjar Pranowo has addressed the recent interrogation of popular TV personality and journalist turned PDI-P campaign spokesperson Mr. Aiman Witjaksono about spurious allegations he said members of the Indonesian National Police were not remaining neutral in the 2024 presidential elections, slated for February 14.

Mr. Aiman was interrogated on Friday (26/1/2024) at the Jakarta Metropolitan Police Headquarters.

According to Mr. Ganjar, despite being inactive, Mr. Aiman remained a journalist seeking to narrate events using his rights and journalistic freedoms.

Mr. Ganjar disagreed with the notion that Mr. Aiman should face legal action for publicizing specific alleged incidents (of inappropriate official intervention in the election campaign).

“So, the proper approach is not to arrest him, not to interrogate him. Instead, feel free, the Indonesian National Police have a right of reply (to public statements). That’s the essence of a free press, which was fought for during the Democracy Reform (Reformasi) period (which ended the authoritarian regime of President Soeharto in 1998),” said Mr. Ganjar, on the hustings at Bima Stadium in the West Java city of Cirebon on Saturday (27/1/2024).

Mr. Ganjar asserted his team would continue to defend Mr. Aiman. It is worth noting that Aiman is serving as the spokesperson for the Ganjar-Mahfud national presidential election campaign. “We will defend Aiman. The Ganjar-Mahfud team will accompany him today (to police headquarters). We will inquire with the police about what actually happens,” Ganjar stated. The former Central Java Governor then emphasized that the government should not intervene in the affairs of the people.

He listed instances that have resulted in police (spurious) reports, mentioning the case of Pasti Hutabarat, who was also arrested by the police for allegedly spreading false news (or hoaxes). The allegedly misleading news in question involved posting a recording of an alleged conversation among Forkopimda in Baru Bara District in North Sumatra, supporting the candidacy of presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto and his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka.

“Similar to our fellow citizen who posted news about the incident in Batu Bara District. So when someone posts, and then they are questioned, it seems that models like this should not be allowed,” explained Ganjar. “The people will decide for themselves. They will resist in their own way,” he added.

As reported earlier, the Jakarta Metropolitan Police questioned Mr. Aiman on Friday. The Director of Special Criminal Investigations at Jakarta Metropolitan Police Headquarters, Police Superintendent Ade Safri Simanjuntak said that Aiman was summoned in the capacity of witness to attend at 09:00.

Aiman received the summons on Monday (22/1/2024). This marks Aiman’s first interrogation as a witness, as his case has escalated to the investigative level.

Aiman was reported to police on November 13, 2023, by six civil society alliances for allegedly violating Article 28 Paragraph (2) in conjunction with Article 45 Paragraph (2) of the notoriously vague Information and Electronic Transactions Law and/or Article 14 and/or Article 15 of the World War II-era Law Number 1/1946 concerning criminal procedure.

As a spokesperson for the PDI-P endorsed candidate’s campaign team, Mr. Aiman mentioned the existence of certain members of the Indonesian National Police are suspected of favoring the Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka team in the 2024 presidential election campaign. The PDI-P campaign team of Mr. Ganjar and Prof. Mahfud has also prepared 1,000 lawyers to assist Aiman in the case. This article is based on https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2024/01/27/13373601/bela-aiman-soal-oknum-polri-tak-netral-ganjar-minta-polisi-gunakan-hak-jawab

In earlier news…

December, 3 2023

Police Summons Received, Journalist and Politician Aiman Witjaksono to Attend Police, Kompas.com

By Rizky Syahrial and Diamanty Meiliana for Kompas.com, December 3, 2023

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Politician Mr. Aiman Witjaksono confirmed on December 3, 2023 he would attend police interview in response to a summons issued over alleged comments about the Indonesian National Police not being neutral in the 2024 election.

“We have received the summons, God willing, we will attend,” Mr. Aiman said, when contacted for confirmation on Sunday (3/12/2023).

Earlier, Mr. Aiman was summonsed to undergo an examination on December 1, 2023, but he did not attend. Director of Special Criminal Investigations at the Jakarta police precinct, Police Commissioner Ade Safri Simanjuntak, said earlier he had not yet decided whether he would forcibly summon Mr. Aiman if he again did not attend on December 5, 2023.

“Later, we will update again on our follow-up plans. Essentially, the team has given the person concerned the opportunity to provide clarification by attending the police,” he added. As many as six people made reports to Police about Mr. Aiman on November 13, 2023.

Mr. Aiman was reported to Police for allegedly breaching Article 28 paragraph (2), in conjunction with Article 45 paragraph (2), of the Electronic Information and Transaction Law and/or Article 14 and/or Article 15 of Law Number 1/1946 Concerning Criminal Law Regulations.

Mr. Aiman was reported for allegedly saying there was an individual Indonesian National Police commander who was suspected of siding with presidential election candidates Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Mr. Prabowo Subianto and President Joko Widodo’s son Mr. Gibran Rakabuming Raka who are candidates in the 2024 presidential election endorsed by the Advance Indonesia Coalition (KIM) of parties.

This article is based on: https://megapolitan.kompas.com/read/2023/12/03/12521061/terima-surat-panggilan-polisi-aiman-akan-hadir-pada-5-desember-2023

In related news:

• https://megapolitan.kompas.com/read/2023/11/30/17371671/sebut-ada-oknum-polisi-tak-netral-pada-pemilu-2024-aiman-saya-hanya
• https://twitter.com/AimanWitjaksono
• https://aimanwitjaksono.com/
• https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aiman_Witjaksono;
• https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partai_Persatuan_Indonesia;
• https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewan_Perwakilan_Rakyat_Daerah_Provinsi