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Ahok reported to police for claiming protesters were paid
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Conservative Muslims march during a demonstration calling for the Jakarta governor's prosecution for alleged blasphemy in Jakarta on Nov. 4. The governor now has been reported to the police on Nov. 18 for claiming the protesters were paid. (AP/Achmad Ibrahim)
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ncumbent Jakarta gubernatorial candidate Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama has been reported to the police for libel, after saying that some participants of a mass demonstration on Nov. 4 were paid.
Entrepreneur Herdiansyah, who claimed to be a participant of the rally, accompanied by his lawyer Habiburohkman reported Ahok to the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) office on Friday.
“We believe it’s not true that they [protesters] were paid Rp 500,000 [US$38], Habiburohkman who is also a Gerindra Party politician, said as reported by kompas.com.
(Read also: Rally erupts in violence)
Gerindra, which is chaired by Prabowo Subianto, the rival of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in the 2014 presidential election, have nominated former culture and education minister Anies Baswedan and businessman Sandiaga Uno as its gubernatorial pairing in next year’s election.
Jokowi’s party, the Indonesian Democratic party of Struggle, along with the Golkar, Hanura and NasDem parties, have endorsed Ahok and Jakarta Deputy Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat.
In a recent interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, which has been uploaded onto YouTube, Ahok mentioned several participants of the rally were paid.
In his report, Herdiansyah submitted the video to police.
“Many others probably will also report Ahok to the police. I call on Ahok to mention the names of participants who were paid,” he said.
Hundreds of thousands of conservative Muslims joined the Nov. 4 rally to demand Ahok’s prosecution for alleged blasphemy for previous remarks he made in reference to a Quranic verse.
On Wednesday, police declared Ahok a suspect in the case.(jun)
