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Police arrest four over distribution of demonstration exercise video
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National Police officers are briefed on a traffic simulation for the 2018 Asian Games opening ceremony in Jakarta on Aug. 30. (JP/Stefanno Reinard Sulaiman)
T
he National Police have arrested four suspects who allegedly distributed video footage of what is claimed to be a violent protest implicating college students in front of the Constitutional Court in Jakarta.
The police’s director of cybercrime investigations, Brig. Gen. Rachmad Wibowo, said the suspects shared the video on their respective Facebook accounts on Saturday.
The police secured screen grabs of the suspects' Facebook accounts and seized two cell phones.
“The hashtag #MahasiswaBergerak (#UniversityStudentsMove) was spread by several accounts that posted false information about a simulation on handling a riot in front of the Constitutional Court, saying it was a real demonstration by college students,” he said on Monday as quoted by kompas.com.
One of the suspects wrote in the caption of his post, "Jakarta has moved. College students have criticized. The demonstration participants voiced the hashtag #DismissJokowi. Make it viral because the television media has been controlled by the incumbent."
Rachmad said that as the false information could potentially cause disorder within society, the actions of the four suspects were considered violations of articles 14 and 15 of the Criminal Code.
In response to the shared video, the police confirmed on Saturday through its Twitter account @DivHumas_Polri that the footage was of Mantap Brata Operation, an antirally simulation exercise held on Friday in Jakarta to prepare for the 2019 election.
The exercise involved the Indonesian military and police personnel.
National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Dedi Prasetyo said the police might pursue more suspects if they found corroborating evidence during its investigation. (sau/dmr)
