Local man accuses TV stations of slander, inaccurate reporting

A man in North Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, filed a complaint with the provincial chapter of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPID) on Thursday claiming three nationwide television broadcasters - Anteve, RCTI and Indosiar - had falsely accused him of spreading deviant teachings.

The complainant, Lalu Nurbayan, 35, also lodged a protest with the KPID against local Lombok TV for airing reports that maligned him personally. He told reporters at KPID offices the television reports had deeply hurt him and his family, especially when they called him a proselytizer of deviant teachings.

"I'm very offended and my family has become upset by the news. I have never been interviewed by reporters but my name came to the fore all of a sudden, accusing me specifically of spreading misleading teachings," he said.

To strengthen his claim, Lalu brought along as witnesses four of his relatives and neighbors who had watched the news on TV.

Television reports said Lalu was a teacher who had disseminated the Salatiah Qadariyah deviant teaching in Monggal hamlet, Gangga village in North Lombok regency. That sect is believed by some to promote wrongful teachings because it purportedly prohibits followers from praying and fasting.

Lalu said the TV stations only got their information from residents at large, without talking to the police, the Indonesian Ulema Council or other relevant authorities. The video footage used as a backdrop for the story only showed the place where he used to live.

"They also said I was driven out by residents and probably moved somewhere else to spread the teachings," he said.

He confirmed he had lived in Gangga village for four years working as a farmer then. He now lives in the village of Suranadi, Narmada district, in West Lombok.

West Nusa Tenggara KPID vice head Sukri Aruman, who received the complaint, said his office would follow up with the complaint by forwarding it to the central KPI.