REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Investigators of Jakarta Metro Police to immediately return the file of Ratna Sarumpaet in the case of fake news spreader to the Prosecutor Office. Earlier, the case files were considered incomplete (P19).
"We'll return the file this week, but we can't say the specific date yet," said spokeperson of Jakarta Metro Police Senior Commissioner Argo Yuwono at his office on Monday (Jan 7).
Meanwhile, Head of General Criminal Investigation Unit of Jakarta Metro Police, Jerry Siagian said that his party will delegate the case file on Thursday (Jan 10). So far, the police have summoned several witnesses.
Those who have been questioned included the Chairman of Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI) Said Iqbal, Chairman of PAN Honorary Board Amien Rais, and Acting Head of Department of Tourism and Culture of Jakarta, Asiantoro.
In addition, the police also examined the Chairman of Cyber Indonesia Muannas Al Aidid as the reporter in the case, the driver and staff of Ratna Sarumpaet as witnesses, Deputy Chairman of the National Winning Agency (BPN) of presidential candidates number 2 Nanik S Deyang, and Coordinating Spokesperson of BPN Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak.
Also read: No new suspect in Ratna Sarumpaet hoax case
The case started when Ratna who was one of spokepersons of Prabowo-Sandiaga campaign team decided to have cosmetic surgery on Sept 21, without any consent of her families. The next day, a picture of her with swollen face circulated on social media. To her families, she claimed it was a result of an assault happened in Bandung, West Java.
She kept her secret for a week. Ratna also hide the truth from her politician friends, including Amien Rais, Prabowo Subianto, and Fadli Zon. On Oct 2, Fadli tweeted about the assault and it catched public attention.
Later that night, Ratna met Prabowo and his national campaign team to clarified about the incident. Ratna did not tell the truth yet. Prabowo then stood for her, saying he would met national police chief to discuss the case.
According to chairwoman of the Prabowo-Sandiaga Uno campaign team, Nanik S Deyang, the incident had taken place on Sept 21, near Husein Sastranegara International Airport. However, on Oct 3, police found out that Ratna had not been in Bandung that day, but at Jakarta hospital specializing in cosmetic surgery.
Ratna then admitted to have lied. She said pictures of her swollen eyes that went viral were the result of liposuction and apologized to Prabowo and public for her deception.
Jakarta Police arrested Ratna when she was about to take a flight to Chile at Soekarno Hatta International Airport, Tangerang, Banten, to attend international playwrights conference on Oct 4. She was named as a suspect under Article 14 Law No. 1/1946 on criminal law regulations and Article 28 juncto Article 45 Law No. 11/2008 on Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE).