Rusalan Buton Tengah Underwent An Investigation At The Police Criminal Investigation Unit

Head of Public Relations Division of the National Police Kombes Ahmad Ramadhan (Photo: humas.polri.go.id)

JAKARTA - The police have confirmed that they made the arrest of the former Trimata Nusantara Military Commander, Ruslan Buton. He was arrested in connection with the distribution of chain voice messages asking President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to resign from his post.

Head of the Public Relations Division of the National Police, Kombes Ahmad Ramadhan, said that from the results of the interim examination, the suspect admitted to having distributed the voice recordings to the short message application group with the name 'Serdadu Ekstrimatra' after making it on the stairs on May 18.

"From the results of the investigation, the suspect admitted that it was true that the sound of the recording in circulation belonged to the suspect, which was made on May 18, 2020 using the suspect's cellphone and distributed the recording to the WA Serdadu Ekstrimatra Group," Ahmad said in Jakarta, Friday, May 29.

However, the investigations that have been carried out before have not been able to dig deeper into the information. Because, after being questioned for a while, Ruslan Buton was immediately taken to Jakarta to be questioned by the Police Criminal Investigation Unit.

Meanwhile, in relation to the arrest process, continued Ahmad, the man who is a former TNI army (AD) was arrested based on police report (LP) number 0271 dated May 22, 2020. This arrest took place at Ruslan's residence without any resistance. Apart from that, Ruslan's cell phone was confiscated as evidence.

"It was true that on Thursday, May 28, 2020 at 10:30 a.m., the National Police Criminal Investigation team together with the Southeast Sulawesi Regional Police and the Buton Police, arrested the suspect on behalf of Ruslan alias Ruslan Buton alias RB in Wabula District, Buton Regency, Southeast Sulawesi," said Ahmad.

Having acknowledged his actions, Ruslan Buton was charged with Article 14 paragraphs 1 and 2 and or Article 15 of Law Number 1 of 1946 concerning Criminal Law Regulations overlaid with Article 28 paragraph 1 of Law Number 19 of 2016 concerning Electronic Information and Transactions. (ITE) with a penalty of 6 years and / or Article 207 of the Criminal Code with a prison sentence of 2 years.

For your information, this case began when Ruslan made an open statement in the form of a voice recording to President Jokowi. The message contains criticism related to leadership patterns.

In that message, Ruslan said that the best solution to save the Indonesian nation was by Jokowi resigning from his position as the number one person in Indonesia.