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Shady organization targets 'Tempo'
The NGO behind the filing of a police report against Tempo weekly for its coverage of Comr
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he NGO behind the filing of a police report against Tempo weekly for its coverage of Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan's bank accounts has been exposed as a pay-for-hire band of bullies, and many suspect the group is likely being used by others to intimidate and exert pressure on the magazine.
In addition to the report against Tempo, the Indonesian General Society Movement (GMBI) also filed reports against suspended Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) commissioners Abraham Samad and Bambang Widjojanto, as well as former Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) chairman Yunus Husein, for allegedly divulging Budi's bank account information that was used in the Tempo report.
The GMBI is no stranger to controversy, as it regularly uses violence as a tactic, when, for example, the group is hired to 'defend' the rights of squatters, or the rights of those seeking to secure properties in legal disputes.
Members don military fatigues and seek to intimidate whomever is its political foe of the moment. When the South Jakarta District Court held a session on Budi Gunawan's pretrial motion last month, hundreds of individuals in uniforms similar to those worn by the GMBI staged a rally outside the court building in support of Budi.
But when GMBI leaders came to National Police headquarters to file the report against Tempo, Abraham, Bambang, and Yunus, they wore normal attire.
'What we did was part of our function as a social control [organization],' GMBI chairman Mohamad Fauzan Rachman told The Jakarta Post recently, after being asked why the organization chose to file the reports. 'PPATK analysis is a state secret. Those who have it violate the law,' the 47-year-old man said.
Despite calling Tempo a 'tool of the West,' Fauzan said the GMBI never actually targeted the magazine. 'We only attached a copy of the magazine in our report to the police as evidence,' he said.
Although the reports were filed with the assistance of Budi Gunawan's lawyers, Fauzan claimed the GMBI had no relationship with the police general. Fauzan also denied the that the police report was filed on orders from Budi.
'The GMBI has a good relationship with the police,' he said
Fauzan acknowledged, however, that GMBI members were often involved in violent clashes. 'Well, you know, sometimes people lose control when emotions are high.'
Fauzan insisted that the GMBI had not specifically targeted Tempo. 'We filed reports on alleged graft involving state-owned firms with the KPK, but those were not covered by the media,' he said.
Established in 2002 and headquartered in West Java's provincial capital of Bandung, the GMBI claims to have 256,000 members and dozens of branches spread out across West Java and Banten.
However, data from the Home Ministry revealed that the GMBI was only registered in the West Java towns of Bekasi and Ciamis.
According to Fauzan, the organization raises funds from performances of pencak silat (traditional martial arts), by providing security services in property disputes, and through 'debt-collection'.
But many allege the GMBI's chief function is to act as protestors-for-hire for powerful interest groups.
Fauzan denied the accusation. 'We are independent because our branches are autonomous,' he said. 'I am not a good person but I always try to do good things. We help the poor.'
One of Budi Gunawan's lawyers, Eggi Sudjana, acknowledged that he had known GMBI for quite some time. 'But I have networks with many civil organizations,' he said.
