“First, the defendant, Ahmad Dhani Prasetyo, has been proven legally and convincingly guilty of committing the crime in the form of intentionally circulating video containing offensive content and targeting defamation. Secondly, we sentence the defendant to a one-year prison term,” Widyopriyono remarked while reading out the verdict.
In line with article 27, paragraph 3 of the Law on Electronic Transaction and Information (UU ITE), Dhani was proven guilty of publishing the word “idiot” in a vlog.
On receipt of the verdict, Dhani was quick to say he will appeal to the higher court.
Public prosecutors Winarko and Nurahman had earlier demanded to sentence Dhani to a year and half of imprisonment.
Several police officers stood guard for Dhani's trial.
After the announcement of the verdict, Dhani informed the press that the judge, in reaching the verdict, had overlooked facts exposed during the trial.
"We regret that the judge panel had not given attention to the facts put forth during the trial. To the best of my knowledge, three facts (have been overlooked)," he stated.
The prominent musician outlined that the first overlooked fact was a testimony of expert witness Teguh Afriadi from the Communication and Informatics Ministry as the maker of the UU ITE, who noted that legal subjects of the law must be victims, individuals, and not legal entities.
The second fact was a testimony by Edy Jacobus, crime expert and witness of the Public Prosecutor Office, who remarked that Dhani's case was just an issue pertaining to mild insult.
The third fact was that the one who had reported him to the police was a persecution perpetrator, Dhani noted. The guilty verdict stems from an incident occurring in August 2018, when Dhani was in a hotel in Surabaya to attend an event in support of #2019GantiPresiden (Change the President) to be held in the country's second-largest city.
However, a group of people staged a protest in front of the hotel and prevented Dhani and his colleagues from leaving their hotel to attend the event. Inside the hotel, Dhani posted a vlog on his social media account, calling the protestors "idiot."
Translator: Indra Setiawan, Fardah
Editor: Bambang Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
