Evicted Squatters Seek Defamation Charges Against Basuki

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The Jakarta Globe, Tuesday 1 Sep 2015


Jakarta. A group claiming to represent residents of an illegal squatter settlement that was recently razed by the Jakarta administration has pressed criminal charges against Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama.

The group, calling itself Gerakan Lawan Ahok, or Movement Against Ahok, as the governor is popularly known, presented its case on Tuesday at the National Police’s detectives’ unit in South Jakarta.

Tegar Putuhena, the group’s chairman, accused Basuki of “hurting the feelings” of the evicted squatters in a television interview he gave on Aug. 21, the same day that public order officers (Satpol PP) cleared more than 500 illegally built homes along the banks of the Ciliwung River in East Jakarta.

The land is owned by the city, and the constriction of the river there as a result of the shanties has long been blamed for the severe flooding that occurs there on a regular basis.

Though the city has since moved the squatters into free public housing nearby, Tegar said they took exception with Basuki’s characteristically blunt remarks on the violent standoff that between the squatters and the Satpol PP during the initial eviction attempt on Aug. 20.

Speaking on television a day after the squatters hurled rocks at the officers and set a bulldozer on fire, Basuki said the city was prepared to meet force with force.

“We’re going to deal with Kampung Pulo, we’re going to end the history of Kampung Pulo always getting flooded. What do we need to do? We need to play rough, play hard, put muscle over mind,” the governor said in the interview on TVOne.

He also threatened to call in the military to help in the eviction attempt, and warned the squatters that the city administration would not bow to their acts of violence. “If you think you’re fierce, we’re fiercer,” he added.

Tegar’s group is seeking defamation charges under the Criminal Code against Basuki, although it is far from clear how the governor defamed any of the parties involved in the matter


(Yup yup, good on bpk Ahok, makes you wonder how many of those klojoh's were squatters, and how many just paid trouble makers) siK.



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