Marissa takes her case to Kontras

The Jakarta Post | Thu, 01/08/2009 7:53 AM | People

MARISSA HAQUE: (JP/P.J. Leo)

JAKARTA: With her efforts to take Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah to court getting nowhere, actress-turned-politician Marissa Haque has taken her case to the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras).

“I came here to report the case of a police officer who was fired on Christmas Eve just because he tried to process my case,” Marissa told The Jakarta Post at the Kontras office.

“Eventually a friend who used to work at Kontras saw my struggle with the corrupt police so we came here.”

The Tangerang District Court ordered Marissa on Nov. 11, 2008, to pay a Rp 500 million (US$47,500) fine and publish an apology in two national newspapers for accusing Ratu Atut of forging a university diploma to be eligible to run for governor in 2006.

Marissa first took the case to the Jakarta Police on March 7, 2008, but to no avail.

Ratu Atut also filed a defamation suit against Marissa, her former rival for the governor position, with the Jakarta Police on March 12.

Borobudur University also filed a civil lawsuit, which resulted in the Tangerang District Court’s decision.

“Its strange that my report was turned down by the police but Ratu Atut’s report was processed,” Marissa said. — JP/Matheos V. Messakh