C

hief editor of Tempo weekly Arif Zulkifli has denied an allegation that the magazine defamed Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Maruli Hendra Utama.

Arif said that in its report on the criminalization of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), published on Monday, the magazine had enough evidence to back up its claims.

'€œTempo always works based on a professional journalistic code of conduct based on the Press Law. The data published went through a number of fact-checks and verification,'€ Arif said as quoted by kompas.com on Saturday.

Arif said that if Maruli felt that the report smeared him he should file a report with the Press Council instead of the police. He added, however, that the magazine would cooperate with the police in their investigation.

Maruli reported the magazine for defamation over a claim it made that a PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto was behind a plot to criminalize commissioners of the KPK earlier this year.

Maruli said that the report had disadvantaged him as a mayoral candidate in the Bandar Lampung local election.