Porn Tape Probe Looks to Answer the Question: Is That a Lawmaker?

Markus Junianto Sihaloho

Markus Junianto Sihaloho

The House is set to begin investigating a homemade sex video that made the rounds on the Internet last month and allegedly features two lawmakers.

An Ethics Council probe will determine if the people seen in the video are in fact lawmakers, though officials have been silent on possible punishments.

M. Prakosa, the council chairman, said on Monday that information technology experts would be called in to determine if the video in their possession was the original or if it had been doctored in some way.

He said the main focus would be on determining if a lawmaker actually appeared in the video. “The investigation will be completed in a day or two,” he said.

The video, which circulated last month, features a man who bears a striking resemblance to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Aria Bima.

Aria has repeatedly denied he is the man on the tape. He has identified the man as E.G.M., the owner of the website where the video first appeared.

The woman in the video has been identified only as K.M.H., and is reportedly a PDI-P party member and the daughter of a governor in Kalimantan.

The National Police say they have already started their own investigation but have yet to reach any conclusions.

Prakosa said if the results of the investigation did point to a member of the House, that person would be summoned next week. He said the council was only investigating the ethical side of the case and the police were handling the criminal side.

In other House news, Prakosa said the Ethics Council had found lawmaker Andi Taufan Tiro guilty of slapping a customs officer at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in February.

Andi, a member of the National Mandate Party (PAN), denied striking the official but Prakosa said the council had enough evidence to prove otherwise.

“We gave him a warning letter so he does not do anything like this in the future,” he said.

Ali Maschan Musa, a deputy chairman on the council, said earlier that CCTV footage from the incident on Feb. 22 clearly showed that Andi “acted violently” toward the official.

“The footage undercuts his claim that he didn’t do anything,” he said.

Andi was reported to the Ethics Council following reports that he had slapped the customs official after losing his temper over the slow pace of the re-entry process.