Blogger named as suspect for defaming lawmaker

Jakarta Police have named a blogger, who is also a journalist at Tempo magazine, as a suspect for allegedly maligning a lawmaker in an article posted on an Internet Web log.

The blogger, Narliswandi Piliang, had said a lawmaker had accepted a bribe in conjunction with an attempted cover-up of a House of Representatives probe.

Narliswandi told tempointeraktif.com he had learned he was a suspect in the case from a police investigator but had not yet received any formal notification from the police.

Narliswandi said he would cooperate with the police and their investigation. “I will come down to their offices if they need me. I won’t avoid a police summons.”

According to the law, Narliswandi could serve up to six years in prison or could be fined Rp 1 billion (US$100,000) if found guilty.

The defamation case started when Narliswandi allegedly posted an article “Hoyak Tabuik dan Soekanto” (Hoyak Tabuik and Soekanto), on the Web site presstalk.info. In the story Narliswandi said Alvin Lie, a lawmaker from the National Mandate Party, had accepted money from coal producer PT Adaro so the House would cancel a probe into questionable circumstances surrounding the company’s initial public offering.

The story was later reposted on several Web sites, and distributed to the e-mail list of Kompas Readers’ Forum.

Source : The Jakarta Post