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Monday, April 19, 2021 | 14:04 WIB

Chief Justice Anwar Usman alongside Constitutional Justices Wahiduddin Adams and Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh at the second hearing of the formal judicial review of Law No. 40 of 1999 on the Press, Monday (19/4/2021) in the Courtroom of the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Ifa.

JAKARTA, Public Relations—The Petitioner of case No. 104/PUU-XVIII/2020 Charlie Wijaya, who reported comedian Bintang Emon to the Ministry of Communication and Informatics, was absent from the second hearing, which was held by the Constitutional Court (MK) on Monday, April 19, 2021.

“According to the Registrar’s Office, the Petitioner couldn’t attend the hearing, so today’s petition revision hearing is concluded,” said Chief Justice Anwar Usman.

Also read:

Charlie Wijaya Challenges Press Law for Defamation

At the preliminary hearing on Tuesday, December 15, 2020, Charlie alleged that Article 18 paragraph (1) of the Press Law had violated his constitutional rights. The article reads, “Everyone who, against the law, deliberately take any action that causes hindrance or prevention of the criteria stated in Article 4 paragraph (2) and paragraph (3) shall be sentenced to 2 (two) years of imprisonment at the maximum or charged with a fine of Rp500,000,000 (five hundred million rupiahs) at the maximum.”

Charlie alleged that an article entitled “Apologizing After Accusing Comedian Bintang Emon of Narcotics Use” had defamed him and destroyed his reputation. After the press apologized, he asked for compensation for the defamation, insults, and threats that he received due to the erroneous reporting. However, it was denied on the grounds that there was no compensation under the Press Law. 

He alleged that the drafting of the law had ignored lawmaking principles. He also alleged that the article had violated Chapter XA of the 1945 Constitution on Human Rights (Article 28D paragraph (1), Article 28G paragraph (1), and Article 28I paragraph (4)).

Writer: Nano Tresna Arfana
Editor: Lulu Anjarsari
PR: Annisa Lestari
Translator: Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 4/19/2021 15:10 WIB

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian version, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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