Police drop Islamist group leader’s illegal campaigning charges after not being able to agree on definition of ‘campaign’

Protesters gather at Jakarta’s National Monument park as part of a rally against Jakarta’s former Christian Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama on December 2, 2016. Photo: AFP
Protesters gather at Jakarta’s National Monument park as part of a rally against Jakarta’s former Christian Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama on December 2, 2016. Photo: AFP

Slamet Maarif, the head of the Islamist group the 212 Alumni Brotherhood (PA 212), has been relieved of all charges of illegal political campaigning, a mere two weeks after he was named suspect in the case.

Slamet was reported to the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) for allegedly telling a crowd of supporters to vote and mentioned the controversial “2019 Change President” tagline during a PA 212 rally in Surakarta on Sunday, Jan 13. He was officially named a suspect by the city’s police for violating laws regarding political campaigning outside of designated campaign periods on Feb 11.

As of Feb 25, the police announced that they have dropped the charges against Slamet because investigators were not able to establish his mens rea (criminal intent), nor were their expert witnesses — consisting of members of the region’s General Elections Committee (KPU) — able to agree on whether or not his call to vote for a certain candidate fell under a strict definition for campaigning.

“We decided that the [case based on the] actions of Slamet Maarif at the time cannot be handed over to prosecutors. So the case is closed,” Central Java Police Spokesperson Agus Tri Atmaja told Detik yesterday.

Furthermore, by law, the police only had 14 days to investigate Slamet to establish his mens rea, but the PA 212 head was never summoned for questioning during that window.

In light of the news, Slamet said he appreciates the police being objective in his case.

“Praise God, I hope the National Police continue to be professional in guarding the presidential and legislative elections,” he said.

Slamet Maarif once helped lead the mass protests that helped put Basuki “BTP” Tjahaja Purnama (the former Jakarta governor formerly known as “Ahok”) behind bars on a heavily politicized charge of blasphemy.

The 212 political movement, so named for the massive protest on 2/12/2016 against former governor BTP, was predicted by some to become a political force to be reckoned with in Indonesia after the protests against BTP proved instrumental in defeating him in the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election.

But since then, the 212 movement’s ability to get hardline Islamist goals on the national political agenda has largely failed, as in-fighting divided its leaders and their main political patron, Prabowo Subianto, ignored their running mate recommendation to pick businessman Sandiaga Uno.

Nevertheless, Prabowo’s campaign still has the support of PA 212 as well as affiliated hardliner organizations such as the infamous Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). A spokesperson for the campaign said that there was a danger that the charges against Slamet could be seen as unfairly politicized by President Jokowi’s administration.



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