During the post-launch discussion, author George Junus Aditjondro reportedly lost control of his emotions after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party lawmaker Ramadhan Pohan, who was not invited to the event, tried to defend himself regarding an accusation published in the book.

The book accused the Jurnal Nasional newspaper, where Ramadhan is editor-in-chief, of receiving part of the Bank Century’s ballooning bailout of Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716 million).

“You’re hallucinating about the money that went to Jurnal Nasional,” Ramadhan said. “It is not true.”
George challenged him by saying: “Show me which part is not true?”

The situation heated before George raised his right hand and hit Ramadhan in the face using
the book.

Worse still, a group of people wearing masks of George’s face and holding banners defending President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono staged a protest outside the launch venue.

Upset by the incident, Ramadhan left the event and yelled: “George just hit me. I will report him to the police.”

He went to the Jakarta Police to file a complaint on the incident before being forwarded to the South Jakarta Police. He reported George for “misconduct” that carries a maximum sentence of 32 months in jail, or a Rp 400,000 in fines.

George defended himself, saying he wanted to stop Ramadhan’s misconception of the book.
“My hand did not touch him, neither did my book”.

George admitted that he was upset with Ramadhan who did not respond when previously asked if Jurnal Nasional received money from Bank Century.

The book sparked controversy since last week due to its content, said media reports, suggesting a link between Yudhoyono and the Bank Century bailout.

The book also names several state institutions for having received some of the bailout.

It suggests that the Social So-lidarity and Caring Foundation (YKDK), managed by Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto, who was also Yudhoyono’s campaign team member at the July 8 presidential election, has received US$1 million from businessman Djoko S. Tjandra, a fugitive graft suspect.

“So what?” Djoko told kompas.com. “Does [the money] make the foundation bad?”

He said there were no conflicts of interest, although the foundation was managed by a number of state officials.

Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum said his party fully supported Ramadhan in filing a police report against George.

He added that the party might have placed too much expectation on George’s intellectual capacity.

“We thought he had better control of his emotions due to his intellectual prominence, however, he disappointed us,” he said.

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