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Anti-Jokowi figures charged with treason
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Rachmawati Soekarnoputri visits residents in the Luar Batang area of North Jakarta on Apr. 27. Rachmawati was arrested on Friday for alleged treason. (Kompas.com/Robertus Belarminus)
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even political figures known for their strong opposition to the administration of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo were arrested on charges of treason on Friday, only a few hours before the large-scale rally by conservative Muslims in the capital against Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama.
The National Police accused the seven people, including Rachmawati Soekarnoputri, the daughter of Indonesia’s first president, Sukarno, of trying to exploit the anti-Ahok rally to overthrow the government.
Rachmawati is the younger sister of Indonesian Democratic Party Of Struggle (PDI-P) chief patron Megawati Soekarnoputri, leader of a coalition of political parties that support Jokowi’s administration. Among the six others charged include retired two-star army general Kivlan Zen and political activist Sri Bintang Pamungkas, both of whom were charged under articles 107, 110 and 87 of the Criminal Code (KUHP) on treason and conspiracy to commit treason.
According to Article 107 of the KUHP, if convicted of treason, the suspects could face 20 years’ imprisonment.
Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said the police were in the midst of investigating whether there had been any communication between the suspects to commit the alleged treason. “We will announce the questioning results tomorrow morning.”
The police accused the suspects of being involved in treason-related activities in the past three weeks, without going into detail.
Questioning of the suspects was still ongoing at the Police’s Mobile Brigade (Brimob) headquarters in Depok, West Java, as of Friday evening. The police have only 24 hours to conclude the process, after which they must determine whether they will detain the suspects, as stipulated in the country’s Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP).
Megawati, who was attending a batik exhibition at the Smesco building in Pancoran, South Jakarta, refused to comment on the arrest of her sibling Rachmawati.
On Friday the police also arrested musician-turned-politician Ahmad Dhani for allegedly insulting President Jokowi while partaking in the anti-Ahok rally on Nov. 4, and two other men for allegedly promoting hate speech under Article 28, point 2 of the 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law. All three men had also been named suspects by the police.
Rachmawati previously said she would not join the massive rally, but instead would visit the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) to demand that the legislative body immediately hold an extraordinary meeting to bring back the original version of the 1945 Constitution.
Under the old 1945 Constitution, the MPR had the power to appoint a president and vice president, and the president had to answer to the assembly.
Under the current presidential system, a move against the president in the form of an impeachment proceeding can only occur if the House launches an inquiry, requests a detailed examination of a policy, and only when the policy in question meets the criteria for violations that could be subject to an impeachment trial can the process start.
MPR Speaker Zulkifli Hasan said Rachmawati had several times come to him with the demand, but he always said no because the MPR had decided to only have a limited amendment of the reinstatement of the now-defunct state policy guideline (GBHN). “All people can have their aspirations — we as speakers will accept them — but whether we agree or not is another question.”
