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'It’s a hoax': Police to send legal notice to musician Ananda Badudu over statement
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Ananda Badudu is a former member of Indonesian pop duo Banda Neira. (instagram.com/@anandabadudu)
T
he Jakarta Police plan to send a legal notice to musician Ananda Badudu over a statement made after his interrogation that police had used unethical methods while interrogating university students.
The head of the Jakarta Police’s mobile detectives (resmob) unit IV for general crimes, Adj. Comr. Rovan Richard Mahenu, said the police would send the legal notice within two days to allow the former Banda Neira guitarist to clarify his statement to the press.
“We will send a legal notice to Ananda Badudu. Please renounce what you told the press. Do not give statements and then [run] away,” Rovan said on Monday, kompas.com reported.
He argued the police had CCTV footage proving that they had not subjected university students to any improper treatment during questioning, as Ananda had stated.
“All has been recorded by CCTV. When Ananda arrived [at the police headquarters], no university students were being interrogated unethically. It is a hoax,” he said, adding that the police were also considering filing a defamation lawsuit against Ananda.
Ananda initiated a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to support university students protesting in front of the House of Representatives on Sept. 23 and 24.
The musician broke the news through his Twitter account @anandabadudu: "The police picked me up because I channeled funds to university students,” Ananda wrote in his post.
He was picked up by police at around 4:30 a.m. on Friday in Tebet, South Jakarta.
Police questioned Ananda after they had arrested Jakarta State Islamic University (UIN) student Ahmad Nabil Bintang for allegedly stealing a walkie-talkie from a police officer. According to police, Nabil received Rp 10 million (US$706) through Ananda and used that to support the protests.
After Ananda was released on Friday at around 10:17 a.m., he told journalists that a number of university students had been unethically treated when police questioned them.
“I saw many university students were being processed without legal assistance, unethically. They need assistance more than me,” he said on Friday. (sau)
