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Jakarta Post

Love Indonesia, love KPK? Say it with murals

A trembling man wears a headband with "anticorruption" written on it

The Jakarta Post (The Jakarta Post)
Mon, October 26, 2009

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Love Indonesia, love KPK? Say it with murals

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trembling man wears a headband with "anticorruption" written on it. His right hand is handcuffed while a hand with a gavel tries to hit his left side. Behind him, are several suited men who are laughing at him.

This is not a movie scene but a depiction of hard pressure against the antigraft movement in a mural located at a flyover pillar on Jl. Gatot Subroto, South Jakarta.

It is one of the 13 murals made in seven strategic locations in the city, organized Cicak (Love Indonesia, Love the KPK), a civil society movement that supports the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

"We want to remind the public about ongoing efforts to weaken the KPK and antigraft activists," said Irma Hidayana, a Cicak member.

Currently, the KPK's former deputy chairmen Bibit Samad Riyanto and Chandra Hamzah are facing bribery and abuse of power charges.

In addition, two antigraft activists, Emerson Yuntho and Illian Deta Sari, have become suspects in a libel case for raising suspicions about the Attorney General's Office (AGO) management of funds.

Many believed that the police and AGO made up the accusations to weaken the antigraft law enforcement.

Irma said the murals were made by 10 artists who volunteered to draw the murals from Oct. 17 to 19.

The murals can be seen in walls and pillars in strategic places including the monorail's pillars near the House of Representatives complex and Cikini Station in Central Jakarta, as well as on the monorail's pillars in front of the Pasar Festival mall in South Jakarta.

Ari, the mural artists's coordinator, said the painters had volunteered as they wanted to show their support for the antigraft movement.

"We are not official members of the Cicak movement, but we support the KPK and antigraft activists in order to end corruption."

Ari added that the characters drawn in the murals did not represent any specific individuals.

"We do not want to blame or protect any specific individual through the murals," he said.

"Honestly, we do not want to be charged for defamation. Besides, we do not really know the whole story of the cases."

Irma said murals had been used as tools to voice social protests or encouragements due to their proven, long-term effectiveness.

"If we shout in a demonstration then our voice will no longer be heard after that," she said.

Irma said that the mural painting team did not encounter many difficulties during the creative process.

"We just sent letters informing about the murals to the agencies that made the pillars and walls.

"Fortunately we do not have to ask for permission from the police or the project might never have been completed."

Irma was worried that the murals might not last for long.

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