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Police hunt mastermind behind 'Jokowi Undercover'
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Security talks – National Police chief Gen.Tito Karnavian (center), accompanied by his deputy Comr. Gen. Syafruddin (left) and general supervision inspector Comr. Gen. Dwi Priyatno, responds to questions at a press conference in Jakarta on Dec.28. (Antara/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)
N
ational Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian said on Wednesday the police would pursue the masterminds behind the publication of the book Jokowi Undercover, which according to the police contains defamatory claims about President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.
Tito further said the police had concluded that the author listed in the book, Bambang Tri Mulyono, who was in police custody, lacked the capability to compile a book on his own.
“We have examined him [Bambang]. He couldn't provide reliable data for claims made in the book. He also couldn't cite any references or sources [used to support information in the book]. Thus, it is obvious that the book was based on his personal opinion,” Tito said on the sidelines of a ceremony at the National Police's headquarters in South Jakarta.
(Read also: Police charge "Jokowi Undercover" author with defamation)
He further said the investigation had further found that the author had not attended university and had only graduated from senior high school.
“His writing skill is very poor. He lacks the capability to write a book. There is no way that he wrote the book. Thus, we will search for anyone who backed him. We will hunt down the mastermind,” Tito said.
Claims are made in the book that Jokowi had falsified data to register as a presidential candidate in 2014. It also claims that Giriroto in Boyolali regency, Central Java, the town in which Jokowi's mother Sujiatmi Notomiatdjo was reportedly born, had been an Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) stronghold. (ebf)
