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Indonesian Twitter User Claims to Have Political Dirt
Jakarta Globe | January 25, 2011

Tubby tax man Gayus Tambunan prior to being jailed for seven years for bribery. An anonymous Twitter user claims to have inside information on the case, as well as dirt on a number of Indonesian politicians. (Reuters Photo) Tubby tax man Gayus Tambunan prior to being jailed for seven years for bribery. An anonymous Twitter user claims to have inside information on the case, as well as dirt on a number of Indonesian politicians. (Reuters Photo)
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DrDez
1:46pm Jan 25, 2011

dish it dude

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Jakarta. One Indonesian Twitter user claiming to be in possession of “intelligence” information on a number of politicians and the murky world of politics has become something of a sensation on the social networking Web site.

@benny_israel began tweeting under the topic #intel on Thursday, telling followers that he wanted “to tell a bit about the world of intelligence in Indonesia,” with the sweeping disclaimer that: “If I’m mistaken please correct me.”

The unidentified user, who includes on his bio-line “who dare [sic] wins,” has already attracted nearly 13,000 followers though many of the highly defamatory tweets cannot be reprinted — including a number of unproven posts about the alleged sexual appetite of one prominent Indonesian politician.

@benny, who claims that a number of his followers are “spies” established to monitor his posts, also claimed to have information on the ongoing saga involving Gayus Tambunan, aping the rogue tax official’s claims that his French Guyana passport was supplied by the CIA.

He alleges the CIA intended to “dump Gayus overseas” so he would not be able to provide further information about a number of United States companies allegedly involved in avoiding their tax responsibilities in Indonesia.

“If it is found out that they had committed bribery, the companies would be charged under the US’s anti-corruption law,” he wrote.

The Twitter account has attracted the attention of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s administration.

Writing on Tuesday, Andi Arief, the presidential adviser for social and disaster management, claimed he had discovered the real identity of the anonymous poster, writing “@benny_israel worked for 11 years as a tax auditor and for more than eight years as a tax consultant. He’s a senior alumni of STAN [the State College of Accountancy].”

“I don’t have to explain how I know who @benny_israel is, he is in the mafia inner circle, Bachun and Gayus are his students,” he said, referring to disgraced Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) lawmaker Mukhamad Misbakhun, who was recently sentenced to one year in jail for forging documents. Misbakhun also amassed a fortune during his employment at the Directorate General of Taxation.

@benny, however, rejected the comments, describing Andi as “bewildered.”

Despite @benny’s is yet to provide any proof to back up his claims, with some labelling the posts as merely “political entertainment.”

A user identified as @adewia_77 wrote: “@benny_israel wow you are popular on Twitter. It makes housewives like myself happy, I get more reading material and more knowledge.”