House of Representatives (DPR) member Eko Patrio (who made a name for himself as a comedian before becoming a politician), is today being questioned by the National Police’s Crime Investigation Unit (Bareskrim) for comments he allegedly made about a failed terrorist plot last week.
Eko, who is a cadre of the National Mandate Party (PAN), was reportedly quoted on an online news site saying that last Saturday’s failed bomb plot against the State Palace was faked to distract the public from the blasphemy case surrounding Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama.
This afternoon, the police are questioning Eko in order to clarify the statement, if he made it at all. Eko arrived at Bareskrim headquarters at around 1:45 pm today.
Yandri Susanto, head of PAN’s central executive board, denied that Eko made such a statement.
“Eko never issued a statement that the bomb or terrorism case that the police foiled was just a distraction from Ahok’s case. We actually appreciate the National Police that they handled the case before the bomb was able to be detonated,” Yandri said, as quoted by Republika today.
Eko himself also denied making the statement.
National Police Chief Tito Karnavian denied that the bomb threat was just a distraction from Ahok’s case, saying that it was the result of months of investigation by counter-terrorism forces.
“If there is evidence that this was faked, show us the evidence and we will go hard [on the police officers who foiled the bomb plot]. I myself am ready to be fired [from the position of National Police Chief] if I were found to have faked [the terrorist threat],” Tito said, as quoted by CNN Indonesia today.
Eko may be charged with violating the Information and Electronic Transactions Act (UU ITE) if there is evidence that he actually made the controversial statement.
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