REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Democratic Party leader, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), pledges to hunt a slanderer, who has written and published a fake report in news website Asia Sentinel recently till the end of the world. He said the fake news recently published by the Hong Kong-based news website had damaged the reputation of himself and the Democratic Party.

"Our country is a state of law, not a state of violence. I ensure that we are going to use our legal rights to solve this case. We are chasing the slanderer till the end of the world," SBY, told his party's cadres at an occasion for commemorating the Democratic Party's 17th anniversary here, on Monday evening.

The Asia Sentinel's news report, written by John Berthelsen, has accused the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono administration of involving in the Bank Century scandal and a "vast criminal conspiracy" to swindle the bank's funds for the interest of his party. This fake news was then quoted by several mainstream media in Indonesia without clarifying it to the former president or to his party's executive board members.

SBY who led Indonesia for 10 years absolutely denied the allegation. He reiterated that the news published by the Asia Sentinel as a fake news.

He said he could understand the anger of the Democratic Party's cadres over the intervention of "foreign hands" into the Indonesian people's domestic affairs and over the slander during this political season. But, he warns his Democratic Party's cadres of not taking any illegal act against those responsible for slandering him and the party. Instead, he suggests that they take legal measures.

In other part of his speech, broadcast live nationwide by TV One, SBY also underlined the importance of Indonesia's print, electronic, and online media to remain impartial in their news coverage and reporting. The impartiality, he said, was so significant for providing readers and audience with credible news contents because media outlets actually belong to the public.

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