REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Cyber team of the National Police have identified two people actively spreading hoax onseven containers from China with 10 million marked ballots in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta. However, the two perpetrators were not the mastermind.
Spokeperson of National Police, Brigadier General Police Dedi Prasetyo said a perpetrator with the initials HY was arrested in Bogor, West Java, while another person with the initials LS was arrested in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan on Friday (Jan 4).
"HY and LS have the same role, which is to spread the contents," Dedi said at the National Police Headquarters, Jakarta, on Friday (Jan 4).
The police did not detain the two people. However, the police were still investigating them. Detention decisions for both to be determined within the next 24 hours.
Dedi explained, HY and LS were arrested for being most active in spreading the fake news about cast ballots. Police obtained the information from KPU when KPU reported this issue to police. One of the most active Whatsapp group called Politik Sabana Minang.
"These two people were mapped by the Cyber team. They actively spread it to social medias and groups," Dedi explained.
However, their motives are still being investigated by the police. Dedi added, the police is still pursuing the content creator.
He said the content creator has been profiled. The investigator will also summon a number of expert witnesses.
"In the near future, investigators will summon expert witnesses in criminal, language, and law of electronic information and transactions (ITE), so that the legal construction will be more conquered," he added.
The General Election Commission (KPU) officially reported the case to the National Police Criminal Investigation Unit on Thursday (Jan 3). However, in the report, KPU did not report the Democratic Party cadre Andi Arief to the police.
KPU only reported about the hoax of marked election ballots which was placed in Tanjung Priok Port, Jakarta. Andi made a tweet but then deleted it.
"About the perpetrators, we leave it entirely to police for investigating it," said Chairman of KPU, Arief Budiman at the Police Criminal Investigation Office, Gambir, Jakarta, on Thursday (Jan 3).
Previously, the news about seven containers carrying marked ballots that had been cast in favor of the Joko Widodo-Ma'ruf Amin pair, went viral in social media. Politician Andi Arief uploaded the information on Wednesday (Jan 2) night in his Twitter account.
"Please check that there are reportedly 7 containers of marked ballot at Tanjung Priok," Andi said in his Twitter account before being deleted.