he Jakarta Police are investigating the treason allegations of eight suspects, who were arrested Friday morning, hours before the mass gathering to demand the arrest of incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama at National Monument park in Central Jakarta.
"We are now preparing several witnesses and experts, including language experts, to be questioned," Jakarta Police Spokesman Sr. Comr. Raden Prabowo Argo Yuwono said on Monday at the Jakarta Police headquarters.
On Friday, activist Ratna Sarumpaet, former anti-Soeharto activist Sri Bintang Pamugkas, the daughter of Indonesia's first president Soekarno Rachmawati Soekarnoputri, activist Firza Husain, retired Army Generals Kivlan Zen and Adityawarman Thaha, secretary general of Rachmawati's Pioneers' Party Eko Suryo Santjojo and Alvin Indra were named as treason suspects and arrested by the police.
On the same day, the police also arrested and named musician Ahmad Dhani, Jamran and Rizal Kobar as suspects.
Dhani was charged under the defamation article in the Criminal Code for allegedly insulting President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo during his speech at the Nov. 4 rally while Jamran and Rizal were charged under the 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law for alleged hate speech ahead of the Friday event.
On Saturday, the police released the suspects except for Bintang, who was also charged under the ITE law, Jamran and Rizal.
"We detained those three people according to our subjective consideration," Argo said. (dmr)
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