Attorney For The Suspected MS Harassment Perpetrator At KPI, Considers Komnas HAM Investigation To Be Just A Joke

JAKARTA - Tegar Putuhena, the attorney for the alleged perpetrators of sexual harassment and bullying with the initials RT and EO, believes that Komnas HAM has exceeded its authority in drawing conclusions.

"Komnas HAM exceeded its authority. He concluded that the incident (harassment and bullying) existed. Even though if we looked at the press conference, we did not hear that he had examined the case in its entirety," Tegar told reporters, Tuesday, November 30.

Previously, Komnas HAM stated that MS had experienced bullying and sexual harassment in his office. In addition to ridicule, the action was carried out by forcing him to take off his clothes, pushing his work bench, and beating MS.

Komnas HAM also recommended that KPI take firm action and give sanctions to employees found guilty. However, Tegar believes that Komnas HAM has taken the conclusion without conducting a comprehensive examination.

"He only called several KPI employees, KPI commissioners, the Central Jakarta Police Chief, then a psychiatrist and experts. But didn't the incident (harassment and bullying) really exist?

Tegar questioned why Komnas HAM, in the investigation conducted since last September, never once summoned his client for questioning.

"We were never summoned as the accused. We were never given space to defend ourselves. Even though the right to defend ourselves is a human right too, but Komnas HAM has violated it. What is Komnas HAM currently defending?," he said.

Tegar also questioned whether Komnas HAM had conducted an investigation of the crime scene in a location suspected of being the site of sexual harassment and bullying.

"He (MS) said 2017 was thrown into a pool (at a hotel) was Komnas HAM already there? Is it true that there is a swimming pool? It was never done, "he said.

He was also reluctant to comment further on Komnas HAM's findings and preferred to wait for the results of the Central Jakarta Police investigation.

"If the Komnas HAM investigation yesterday we saw it was just a joke. They are also not serious. I might have guessed that because the periodization will be finished soon, there is a commissioner who might want to nominate again and use this for the stage," he said.

The case of sexual harassment and bullying that befell MS emerged after he wrote an open letter which went viral on social media on September 1. In the open letter, MS admitted that he had been a victim of bullying since he worked at KPI in 2012.