Mantan Presiden RI ke-6 Yakini Teleponnya Disadap
Ex-Indonesia President Says He May have been Illegally Wiretapped
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
MANTAN Presiden RI, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, pada Rabu meyakini bahwa percakapan teleponnya disadap secara ilegal oleh instansi pemerintah dan dia mendesak untuk mendapatkan penjelasan dari penggantinya, Presiden Joko Widodo.
SBY, yang menjadi presiden pada 2004 - 2014, juga menyanggah bahwa dia atau salah satu keluarganya mendukung aksi massa akhir tahun lalu yang menyerukan untuk menjebloskan ke penjara Gubernur DKI Jakarta nonaktif Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, yang juga mantan wakil gubernur ketika Jokowi menjabat Gubernur DKI Jakarta.
Ketegangan politik dan agama meningkat akhir-akhir ini di Indonesia yang mayoritas Muslim menjelang Pilkada serentak pada 15 Februari mendatang.
Ahok, warga keturunan China, sedang ditantang oleh dua kandidat Muslim, salah satunya adalah putra sulung SBY, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono.
SBY mengaku curiga percakapan teleponnya disadap setelah disebut dalam pengadilan kasus Ahok ketika seorang pengacara mengatakan ada bukti SBY menelepon seorang ulama terkemuka dan mendesaknya untuk mengeluarkan fatwa yang menyatakan bahwa Ahok melakukan penistaan agama.
"Jika memang percakapan saya telah disadap tanpa alasan yang sah atau perintah pengadilan ... maka itu adalah penyadapan ilegal," kata Yudhoyono kepada pers.
Yudhoyono mengatakan ia telah meminta penjelasan dari Presiden Jokowi atas dugaan penyadapan. Namun juru bicara presiden tidak segera menanggapi permintaan tersebut.
Ahok sedang diadili karena diduga menghina Al-Quran saat berkampanye. Dia membantah melakukan pelanggaran pidana tersebut.
Yudhoyono membantah menjadi penyokong dana pada unjuk rasa menentang Ahok.
"Saya dituduh mendanai aksi damai dan, sebagai manusia, tentu saja saya harus menyampaikan bahwa kabar itu tidak benar," kata SBY.
Polisi mengatakan mereka sedang menyelidiki kemungkinan kaitan antara tim kampanye Agus Yudhoyono dan kelompok yang berniat makar dan memicu penangkapan pada 2 Desember tahun lalu seperti dikutip Reuters yang dilansir MailOnline.
A FORMER Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, said on Wednesday he believed his telephone may have recently been illegally tapped by government agencies and he had sought an explanation from his successor, President Joko Widodo.
Yudhoyono, who was in office from 2004 until 2014, also denied that he or any of his relatives had backed mass rallies late last year calling for the jailing for blasphemy of Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, an ally of Widodo.
Political and religious tension have been high in the Muslim-majority country ahead of an election for Jakarta governor on Feb. 15.
Purnama, an ethnic Chinese Christian, is being challenged by two Muslims, one of them a Yudhoyono's son, Agus Yudhoyono.
The elder Yudhoyono's suspicion about his telephone being tapped apparently arose during a court case this week when a lawyer said there was evidence Yudhoyono had telephoned a Muslim cleric to urge him to issue an edict declaring that Purnama had committed blasphemy.
"If indeed my conversations have been tapped without a legitimate reason or court order ... then that is illegal wiretapping," Yudhoyono told a news conference.
Yudhoyono said he had sought an explanation from Widodo over the suspected wiretapping. A spokesman for the president was not immediately available for comment.
Purnama is on trial for allegedly insulting the Koran while campaigning. He has denied wrongdoing.
Yudhoyono denied trying to whip up street protests against Purnama.
"I was accused of funding the peaceful actions and, as a human being, of course I have to convey that none of that is true," Yudhoyono told the news conference.
Police have said they are investigating possible links between Agus Yudhoyono's campaign team and an alleged treason plot that led to several arrests early on Dec. 2.
Later that day, a hardline Muslim group led a big rally in Jakarta calling for Purnama to be jailed. That protest, and one a few weeks earlier, were the biggest Indonesia has seen in nearly 20 years and dented Purnama's popularity.
Former president Yudhoyono has denied that he or his family had anything to do with the rallies or the alleged treason plot.
Polls show Agus Yudhoyono is now neck and neck with Purnama in the race to lead the city of 10 million.
The job of governor of the capital can lead to higher office. Widodo was Jakarta governor before making his successful bid for the presidency.