Jakarta. State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir visited the National Police headquarters in South Jakarta on Monday evening to file a complaint against political activist Faizal Assegaf for allegedly making defamatory remarks about his family.

Erick arrived only several hours after the accused came to the same place “waiting for him to make the police complaint”.

Faizal angered the minister after he posted a video on his Instagram account with false narrations stating that Erick “has many wives he has secretly married” and that he refused to pay tuition fees for “a child from his first wife”.

He added fuel to the feud by coming earlier to the police compound “to check whether the minister really lodged a complaint” and then accused Erick of “lying to the public” after he learned that no police report was made.

An attorney for Erick said the initial report was made on Friday but police advised the plaintiff to bring the evidence, including the digital copy of the video, and come back on Monday.

“We didn’t lie, but it’s apparently Faizal who fails to understand the situation,” said Ifdhal Kasim.

Ifdhal added that Erick, who has two sons and two daughters from his only wife, is very serious about bringing defamation charges against Faizal because “it’s a matter of family honor”.

“Mr. Erick said this matter relates to basic family values so he really hopes that [the police] will investigate the case thoroughly,” Ifdhal said.

Faizal has not spoken in detail about his Instagram post but he visited the Criminal Investigation Agency office to check Erick’s lawsuit.

He said Erick’s attorney signed the guest book at the office on Friday but there was no formal complaint against him.

“I was accompanied by my attorneys to check here and it turns out they have lied,” Faizal said.

He was previously known as a supporter of controversial Muslim figure Rizieq Syihab, who is a fierce critic of President Joko Widodo's government. 

Erick’s legal team has cited articles on the dissemination of false information to incite hatred, which is punishable by up to six years in prison.