MNC Accused of Concealing News on Suryadharma Corruption Case

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A message has been circulating through BlacBerry Broadcast Message that MNC Group has blocked news about the corruption case implicating Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali, as Hary Tanoesudibjo—the MNC top man—has decided to join the Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa presidential ticket’s coalition on Wednesday last week.

Suryadharma Ali, the chair of the United Development Party (PPP) who has announced his support to Prabowo-Hatta, was named as a suspect in the graft-stricken procurement of Haj pilgrimage goods and services in 2012-2013.

The message mentioned that RCTI’s executive producer Eddy Soeprapto was instructed not to broadcast news about Suryadharma’s corruption case in Seputar Indonesia Sore news program on Friday, May 23, 2014. The decision to remove the news from the program was made after Arya Sinulingga, RCTI’s Editor-in-Chief, was furious about the plan to include the corruption case in the program.

“The man, who happens to be Hary Tanoesudibjo’s right hand in managing the editorial staff for MNC’s interests, was furious since the policy leaked,” the message said as received by Tempo on Sunday, May 25, 2014.

Former member of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission, Ezki Suyanto, has claimed responsibility for the viral message.

“Yes, I was the one who spread it,” he told Tempo on Sunday, May 25, 2014.

Ezki said that he received the information from an internal source with the MNC who knew about Arya’s intervention.

“The source was scared [to spread the message] and wrote the message. I helped with the broadcast,” he said.

Ezki revealed that the reason behind the spreading of the message was based on his concern that MNC Group has abused its role as a media company.

“MNC Group should serve the public’s interest, not its owner,” he said.

Ezki claimed that he is not afraid if the message is deemed as a black campaign against one of the presidential candidates.

“I have nothing to lose. I don’t really care about what others might think,” he added.

MNC Group’s corporate secretary Arya Mahendra Sinulingga has denied having instructed his staff to block news about Suryadharma Ali’s case, claiming that it was a wild accusation.

“First, it’s a wild accusation. Second, Ezki Suyanto spread it,” Arya told Tempo on Sunday, May 25, 2014. The public, he said, could check whether RCTI and MNC Group had blocked the news linked to Suryadharma Ali’s case.

KHAIRUL ANAM

http://www.tempo.co/read/news/2014/05/26/078580324/Grup-MNC-Dituding-Blokir-Pemberitaan-Suryadharma