TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Bawaslu will not act on alleged smear campaign, hate speech reports
Change Size
A worker carries ballot boxes on Feb. 28 at the local branch of the General Elections Commission (KPUD) in Ciamis, West Java. (Antara/Adeng Bustomi)
T
he West Java Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) has declined to follow up on reports of alleged smear campaigning and hate speech reported by the campaign team of one of the province’s gubernatorial candidate pairs Tubagus Hasanuddin and Anton Charliyan of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) last week.
“The [reported] smear campaign and hate speech cannot be categorized as election crimes but rather violations of the Internet and Electronic Transactions [ITE] Law,” said Bawaslu West Java chairman Harminus Koto in a letter explaining progress in the handling of the reports on March 16.
The ITE Law prohibits any form of hate speech pertaining to ethnicity, religion, race and inter-group relations (SARA).
Indra Sudrajat, a member of the Hasanuddin-Anton ticket’s advocacy team, reported an Instagram account named @perisai.rakyat21 to Bawaslu on March 13, saying the account conducted a smear campaign against the Hasanuddin-Anton pair.
The @perisai.rakyat21 account carries a picture of the candidate pair with the slogan changed from “Hasanah”, a portmanteau of Hasanuddin-Anton Amanah (trustworthy), to “Hasetan”, short for Hasanuddin-Anton Setan, or devil.
Indra said he was disappointed by the decision taken by the Bawaslu West Java’s Integrated Law Enforcement (Gakkumdu) center.
“It will be a bad precedent for our people. We are worried that people will be able to spread hate speech and smear campaigns as they wish without having to face any legal risks,” said Indra on Monday, after the team also reported the case to the West Java Police. (srs/ebf)
