On Friday morning Australian newspapers Sydney Morning Herald and The Age wrote on their front page about power abuse by Indonesian President SBY and corruption-bribery practiced by several top officials including former Vice President Jusuf Kalla and current Chairman of the People's Consultative Council (MPR) Taufik Kiemas.
According to The Jakarta Post, both newspapers mentioned that their source of information were diplomatic cables of the US Embassy in Jakarta that have been leaked by the controversial website Wikileaks.
The government was very angry at the above news, and Foreign Minister Mary Natalegawa has conveyed a strong protest to the US government via its Ambassador to Jakarta Scott Marciel
In a press statement published on the Embassy's website last Friday, the US government condemns the said disclosure of diplomatic cable on SBY.
Further, The Age has issued SBY's denial on the corruption claim.
In my opinion, the government's said reaction was exaggerating, in the sense that they are protesting news which were published based on unclear source of information i.e the Wikileaks.
Because Wikileaks was operated by people who have no connection with the US government and their embassies around the world. So if Wikileaks claimed that they have access to diplomatic issued by US Embassies, the only way they can do that is by stealing them either from the embassy concerned or from the receiver of those cables at the State Department in Washington DC, USA.
Moreover, the US government has never confirmed the validity of the materials issued by Wikileaks.
In an interview with TV-One, Foreign Minister Marty Natelegawa quoted the US Ambassador in Jakarta as saying that the material were only hearsay, gossip by some people at their Embassy.
18 comments:
i think whilst Wikileaks is a large source of controversial information, we mustn't believe everything they say because their information might be proven false.
saya cenderung percaya dgn wikileaks, bila SBY menyalahgunakan kekuasaan
seperti di film2, pemerintah manapun suka menyembunyikan kebenaran :D
winds blowing fast. and the real truth there.
who is wrong must have fallen, and the truth always stands firm
ronggo warsito modern,hehe
Of course everybody is free to pay attention to or ignore Wikileaks. And either believe, doubt or reject the revelations.
I do take them serious. And I'm pretty sure the published cables are authentic. Though I should add the content, that is diplomatic observation on the main characters and situations in the country the diplomats are reporting about, is by definition open to doubt ( it may be right or wrong).
The revelation which drew most attention in the Netherlands was about a plan to deploy a new mission in Afghanistan. It showed some Christian Democrat government minister(s) asked the American Embassy in The Hague to make Washington put pressure on their Labour colleague in the coalition government at that time ("tell him he would never be appointed in a international organization; tell him he would loose The Netherlands' invitation as a guest at the table of G20"), to make him comply with (US and) the Christian Democrat's intentions. (This minister didn't give in by the way).
I'm a citizen. And therefore I want to know what kind of politicians I vote for. I will never choose politicians who betray not only government's promises ( they told us such a deployment was out of the question) or ally with foreigners to attack their own colleagues.
One may wonder was the Wikileaks information right. Well, I bet you it was right.
One may wonder is the information on SBY etc right also? I'm not sure. But I'm even less sure about the denials in Jakarta. What I see is a lot of smoke. So I am afraid probably there is some fire as well.
Hello again my friend, The story is probably true but the problem lies within how it was obtained. Wikikleaks I thought was a good thing at first but then I realized that they are putting a lot of people at risk with out regard. I have a Very Popular post on my blog about Julian Assange and a few on Wikileaks too. Ciao
@Furree Katt,
Yes the information in Wikileaks needs to be clarified first with the authority concerned.
@R10,
Kebenaran Wikileaks masih harus di klarifikasi dengan pihak2 terkait yang berwenang. Namun bisa dipakai sebagai bahan betunjuk.
@Wisata Murah,
Let us hope that the truth would not be as bad as mentioned in Wikileaks.
@Colson,
I asked the question about Wikileaks is because it has drawn serious attention of the prez and other top officials, as if they do not have more important things to take care of.
By protesting very hard they only enlarge the matter and open people's eyes on Wikileaks's info.
It would be different if they only made a press release by a top official at the Foreign Ministry denying the allegation.
This harsh reaction reminds me of SBY's harsh reaction when he learned about the RMS's petition to the court in Holland, which resulted last minute cancellation of his trip to Holland.
@Jhess,
As a preliminary information
maybe Wikileaks can be use as an indication. But it should be proven.
I'll check your blog.
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Bali Hotel,
I am glad that you like my blog, Thanks.
@Harry: I do agree with you that getting angry in reaction to unwelcome publicity is not the smartest thing the president c.a could do. It may indicate that even a very composed personality like SBY looses his temper if something he wanted to have remained a (nasty and embarrassing ) secret is being brought into the open.
Hi Colson,
It would backfire on him. Some people has started asking him to prove that the news was wrong.
This problem should be investigated first, understand the country Australia is a guard dog for Asian countries, so we must be careful in addressing this problem. Do not forget to visit the blogs that I have, give constructive criticism and comments for improvement of these blogs. Thank you
berita yang rumit agaknya...
sedikit bingung mengomentarinya...
Salam silaturahmi yah Om ^_^
Hi Harry, this is dirty politics I guess. Hmmm... just my personal opinion. :)
@King Money,
Thanks, I'll check your blog.
@Main Kata,
Saya senang dengan kunjungan anda.
@JP,
People are beginning to think like you do.
wikileaks just spreading about things that people often wondered about...
But, errr...i know i sound stupid but how on earth wikileaks get a hold of those documents anyway?
Ria/The Dream Catcher,
Wikileaks mentioned on its website that their documents are diplomatic cables sent by US embassies sent to Washington.
Diplomatic cables are classified materials own by the US govt. so the only way Wikileaks can get them is by stealling them from the US govt.
Don't blame the messenger - the problem for your government is the message itself?
Is the message correct?
peter
Peter/Kiwi,
Because of the harsh protests,
some people are asking whether
the message in the news correct.
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