| By Andi Abdussalam |
Jakarta, April 12 (ANTARA) - The resignation from Parliament of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) lawmaker Arifinto for watching a pornographic video during a plenary session last week, was praised by many quarters. Three days after he was caught watching a pornographic video on his tablet computer during a House of Representatives (DPR) plenary session on Friday last week, Arifinto told the press on Monday he was resigning from the House for the sake of his party's honor. Arifinto who was under fire for having watched the viedo, resigned amid a threat of punishment called for by former PKS chairman Tifatul Sembiring. "With all of my conscience, without any pressure from anyone, for the sake of myself and on behalf of my party, I will soon file my resignation as a member of the DPR to my party," Arifinto said. A series of photographs taken by a media photographer shows Arifinto selecting a pornographic film from a folder in his tablet, rather than opening an e-mail link as he had claimed, during the House plenary session. His resignation immediately drew responses supporting the steps he was taking. Arifinto resigned in the face of criticism by former PKS president and now communications and information minister Tifatul Sembiring. The minister proposed that PKS would take a firm action against Arifinto. "I am proposing that PKS should take a firm action against him. This is a serious matter that smeared the image not only of PKS but also of the House," Tifatul Sembiring said. He said that the legal council of the executive board of PKS was deliberating the case of Arifinto. "PKS is now discussing the case. The Legal Council of the party will take action against him," the former PKS president said. Sembiring also called on the Ethics Council of the House to take a firm action against the legislator, if he was proven to have made a mistake. "This is not only the problem of PKS but also of the House. This happened when the DPR is under the spotlight of the people for its plan to build a new building," he said. He said that his ministry would conduct a digital forensic examination. "The ministry of communications and information will cooperate with the legal enforcers to conduct a digital forensic examination and to know whether Arifinto had deliberately downloaded the porn video into his tablet computer or the video had been sent to him. If it turned out that he only received it, it meant that he was only a victim," the minister said. Yet, Arifinto's resignation has been appreciated by many quarters, including the faction of his party in the House of Representatives. Chairman of the PKS faction in the House, Mustafa Kamal appreciated Arifinto's resignation, saying that his step had built a new culture in the Indonesian political sphere, namely the culture of readiness to voluntarily resign as a sign of public responsibility. Kamal said that it showed his high respect to the House as a high state institution and to PKS which he also had found since the beginning. "On my personal behalf and as the chairman of the PKS faction in the House, I hope that all cadres and sympathizers of PKS would accept Arifinto's decision and would not be drawn to further into the problem," Kamal said. In the meantime, Social Affairs Minister Salim Sefaf Al Jufrie who is also a PKS cadre said that Arifinto's resignation should serve as an example for party members in accounting for their deeds. "I think this is a good example, because people would considere PKS as a professional party. We have to maintain this. No matter what his reason is, I think, it is a gentleman attitude that should serve as an example for the people where resignation would no longer become something special if someone makes a mistake. I think this is a good attitude," the minister said. Other legislator, Ade Komarudin of the Golkar Party said that he agreed with the resignation of the PKS lawmaker. "I support his resignation," Komaruddin, who is also secretary of the Golkar Party faction in the House said. "We have to respect the principle of innocence in judging every case," Ade Komaruddin said. He said that the House's Council of Ethics should act immediately to process the case so that it would not tarnish the image of the House as a whole. "If no permanent decision has been taken, of course he would only be in a non active status," he said. His colleague, Idrus Marham, who is Golkar's secretary general, appreciated Arifinto's step to resign, saying it was good for him to resign. The resignation of the lawmaker has received appreciations by several quarters, including the executive director of the Center for Indonesian Reform (CIR), Sapto Waluyo. He said Arifinto's resignation deserved appreciation. "That is a form of self punishment and corrective action by a PKS lawmaker. Many lawmakers who have made bigger mistakes, even have become a corruption suspect, still maintain their positions in the House of Representatives. This is proof for PKS that it is maintaining its minimal moral principles," Sapto said. He said that the step taken by Arifinto would revive some of the public trust on PKS and other political parties that had now become under erosion. "PKS is now under a test as a new national force, whether it is able to consistently maintain its slogan as a clean, professional and caring political party. If PKS is aware of it in carrying out a corrective action systematically, the PKS influence as an agent of change will rise," he said.***3*** |
Selasa, 12 April 2011
LAWMAKER RESIGNS OVER PORN VIDEO
Jumat, 11 Juni 2010
POLICE QUESTION ARIEL, LUNA OVER SEX VIDEO SCANDAL
| By Andi Abdussalam |
Jakarta, June 11 (ANTARA) - Popular Peterpan vocalist Nazril Irham alias Ariel and noted presenter and artist Luna Maya finally came to the Police Headquarters on Friday for questioning amid the uproar of the circulation of sex videos on the internet featuring an actor (looking like Ariel) having sex with two actresses, one resembling Maya and the other one Cut Tari. Ariel and Maya arrived at 3 pm in an 'Alphard' car at the backside of the building of the Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) of the National Police Headquarters. However, journalists failed to cover Luna Maya and Ariel who were questioned as witnesses at the police headquarters that evening. Luna and Ariel left through the side door of the police office after questioning deceiving journalists who had been waiting for them since morning. There was no information on whether the actors in the videos were them or not. Since the beginning, Luna and Ariel who arrived at the police station by car had refused to meet journalists. The National Police's chief detective, Commissioner General Ito Sumardi, said the police had asked Luna and Ariel about the process of the filming and why the video could spread. Again Ito did not explain who shot and the object of the film. A steamy sex video believed to involve Ariel and Luna was the first to surface, on June 4, followed a few days later by a video believed to feature Ariel and Cut Tari. There were three sex videos showing persons resembling Ariel and artist Luna Maya having sex with a duration of about two minutes and six minutes, and then with another one looking like Cut Tari with a duration of about eight minutes. Deputy Head of Police Headquarters' Public Relations Division, Zainuri Lubis said the persons appearing in the sex videos currently circulating among the public could face multiple criminal charges. "The actors in the videos can be charged based on penal clauses in three different laws," Zanuri said at the National Police Headquarters on Friday. He said the relevant penal clauses were contained in Law No. 11 / 2008 on Pornography carrying a penalty of 12 years in jail, Article 27 paragraph 1 of the Law on Information and Electronic Transactions requiring a penalty of up to six years in jail and a fine of Rp1 billion, and Article 282 on immorality in the Criminal Code. Zainuri said the actors in the sex videos could be charged based on those articles because they were aware their immoral acts were being recorded and because of their negligence in keeping the videos from the public. "It is quite possible, the videos have circulated widely among the public because of their negligence," the National Police spokesman said. He said that adults should not have committed the acts because they were clearly of immoral nature. In the meantime, senior lawyer OC Kaligis said artist Luna Maya and singer Ariel were victims in the case of pornographic video purportedly involving the two spread in the community so far. "We refer the case fully to the police as they are just victims," he said after accompanying Luna and Ariel in the questioning over the case by the police at the National Police Headquarters. Kaligis said he had received legal authority from Luna Maya and Ariel to accompany them in dealing with the case that had drawn wide attention from the public. The senior lawyer declined to explain if the two were indeed the ones exposed in the video nor whether the hard disc that kept the footage that belonged to Ariel had been lost. Besides questioning Ariel, police are also investigating the person who first posted the porn video in the internet. According to Information and Communications Ministry spokesman Gatot S. Dewa Broto, his ministry and the police have already identified the person responsible for the sex videos' publication. The person was identified at 3 pm on Thursday. Gatot said from the Internet Protocol his office knew that the posting was done in Indonesia from different addresses by possibly more than one persons. "In cooperation with the police we have been able to find who has posted the video," Gatot said. His side has been working marathon in the past few days in an effort to uncover the person (s) that have posted the video that have caused public outcry. Yet, the results of the identification process have yet to be reported to police. Thus, so far, police have not yet received a report on the identification of the persons who spread the sex videos allegedly involving the well-known artists from the Information and Communications Ministry. Zainuri Lubis, said the ministry had not yet submitted the result of its identification of the persons who had disseminated the sex videos. Investigators will take the identities of the culprits once they have received the result of the identification by the ministry. The one-star general said that investigators would take authentic evidence on the identities of the persons who had spread the porn videos. Then, the investigators would consult technological and informatics experts. "Investigators will surely take authentic evidence and work in stages," Zainuri said.***1*** |