‘Prabowo not a suspect in treason case’

JAKARTA: The Gerindra Party has denied that the police have named its chairman and presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto (pic ) as a suspect in a treason case.

An image of an alleged letter from the Jakarta police naming Prabowo as a suspect made the rounds on messaging apps early yesterday morning, but Gerindra spokesman Andre Rosiade denied its veracity.

“It’s not true that an SPDP (Notice of Commencement of Investigation) has been issued for Pak Prabowo,” Andre told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

“What’s true is that an SPDP was issued for (Prabowo supporter) Eggi Sudjana and that Pak Prabowo was also reported (in connection with) the case.”

Eggi Sudjana, a lawyer and a National Mandate Party politician, was arrested last week and charged with treason and spreading fake news in connection with organising a public protest against the General Elections Commission and the Elections Supervisory Agency on the presidential election results.

“There is not even one jot of evidence that can link Pak Prabowo to treason because he has always acted within the bounds of the law and the Constitution,” said Andre, who also tweeted the same information on his Twitter account.

Andre added that Prabowo was not even listed as a witness in Eggi’s case and had never received a police summons regarding the case.

Police had yet to comment on the SPDP, with National Police spokesman Brig-Gen Dedi Prasetyo saying only that he did not have any information on the matter.