olice confiscated several pieces of evidence during a search operation at the private residence of Rachmawati Soekarnoputri, the daughter of Sukarno, the country’s first president, on Jl. Jatipadang, Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, on Thursday morning.
Rachmawati’s lawyer Aldwin Rahardian said a member of the politician’s legal team oversaw the search.
“Sopyan, a lawyer and my colleague, is on standby at [Rachmawati’s house],” he said as quoted by kompas.com on Thursday.
The search is reported to have started at 8 a.m. “Several items, comprising documents and books belonging to Ibu Rachmawati, have been confiscated,” said Aldwin.
Several hours earlier, the police also searched Rachmawati’s office at Bung Karno University (UBK) complex located on Jl. Kimia and Jl. Pegangsaan Timur, Menteng, Central Jakarta. The search took place from 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday until 1 a.m. Thursday.
On Dec. 2, the National Police arrested Rachmawati and 10 other prominent people for treason-related charges and insulting the government. They were accused of attempting to use a mass demonstration against Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama on Dec. 2 at the National Monument (Monas) to topple the current government.
The nine others arrested were Gen. (ret) Kivlan Zein; former lawmaker Sri Bintang Pamungkas; musician Ahmad Dhani; artist Ratna Sarumpaet; and activists identified only as Adityawarman, Eko, Firza Huzein, Jamran and Rizal.
Rachmawati has denied the accusations. “I strongly deny the treason accusations. I didn’t commit treason and I never attempted to commit treason against the current government,” said sister of former president and Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri in a previous statement. (ebf)
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