Garuda suspends pilot for allegedly sharing conspiratorial FB post about church bombings

A plane from the Garuda Indonesia fleet. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
A plane from the Garuda Indonesia fleet. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Indonesian flag carrier Garuda Indonesia has suspended one of its pilots, identified by his initials OGT, for allegedly espousing radical views in light of last week’s tragic suicide bombings in Surabaya. The airline said it would also investigate a scandalous accusation posted by a woman about OGT’s immoral behavior in his private life.

In an official statement issued on Saturday, the airline said they grounded OGT on Friday over a social media post. According to reports, OGT shared a Facebook post which said that the Surabaya church bombings were orchestrated by an unknown party and that the perpetrators were entrapped to carry out their suicide bombings at the three churches.

“We will investigate further the pilot in question to determine his motive and background for the social media post,” wrote Garuda Indonesia VP Corporate Secretary Hengki Heriandono in a statement.

Soon after OGT’s grounding, a female Twitter user came forward to claim that he had an extramarital relationship with her. The woman accused OGT of forcing her to have an abortion after she demanded he take responsibility for her pregnancy and child raising, backing up her claims with screenshots of their chat on an online messaging service. The allegation is also currently being looked into by Garuda.

“The investigation into the pilot will also go into allegations about his relationship with a woman that have surfaced on social media,” Hengki wrote, adding that OGT could face sanctions by the company if found to be guilty on both counts.

Adding to the airline’s concerns (and possible PR problems), Hengki told Detik yesterday that they could suspend one more pilot who also allegedly posted radical religious views on Facebook.

“On Monday we will summon the pilot for an explanation regarding the posts,” Hengki said, as quoted by Detik.

Last week, a woman was arrested for allegedly posting a comment on Facebook supporting the Surabaya church bombings. In Indonesia, such an act could violate Indonesia’s Information and Electronic Transactions Act (UU ITE), which criminalizes any electronic media communication that could be considered defamatory, slanderous or hate speech. The law carries a maximum punishment of four years.



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