Indonesia: NGO worker got his WhatsApp hacked, later arrested based on text messages sent by the hacker
Event- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Apr 22, 2020
- Event Description
A public coalition identified as the �Koalisi Tolak Kriminalisasi dan Rekayasa Kasus� has pressed President Joko �Jokowi� Widodo to release Ravio Patra from prison after the member of the Open Government Partnership Steering Committee (OGP SC) was arrested on late Wednesday night, April 22.
�Stop the criminalization process and stop all acts that attempt to silence other citizens,� said the coalition�s representative and SAFEnet executive director Damar Juniarto in today�s press release.
According to Damar, the police�s legal standing behind Ravio�s arrest is flawed as he said that Ravio recalled his Whatsapp had been hacked.
�When Ravio turned on his Whatsapp, a notice appeared 'You've registered your number on another phone' when he checked his SMS inbox, there was a request for an OTP to be sent,� Damar Juniarto explained.
The message that became central in his arrest read; �Crisis has arrived, time to burn! We must gather and partake in the national simultaneous looting on April 30. All the stores nearby are free to be looted.�
Damar said that Ravio immediately reported the incident to Whatsapp, which was confirmed by the chat app�s head of security that Ravio�s account had been hacked.
He encouraged police to investigate the hacker who used Ravio�s Whatsapp account to send the provocative message instead of arresting Ravio. �The motive behind this is plotting Ravio Patra as the person initiating public unrest,� he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Online Attack and Harassment
- Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom
- Online
- Right to liberty and security
- Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Suspected non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On 22 April 2020, Ravio Patra, NGO worker, had his WhatsApp hacked, and was later arrested by the police based on text messages sent by the hacker in Jakarta, Indonesia.