Constitutional Justice Suhartoyo chairing the preliminary hearing of the judicial review of Law No. 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code (KUHP), Tuesday (1/24/2022). Photo by MKRI/Panji.
Tuesday, January 24, 2023 | 15:38 WIB
JAKARTA (MKRI) — The norm on insult and defamation against the government in Article 218 paragraph (1), Article 219, Article 240 paragraph (1), and Article 241 paragraph (1) of Law No. 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code (KUHP) is being reviewed by the Constitutional Court (MK). The petition was filed by law lecturer of the University of Indonesia Fernando Manullang, lecturer of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) of Atma Jaya University Yogyakarta Dina Listiorini, content creator Eriko Fahri Ginting, and university student Sultan Fadillah Effendi (Petitioners I-IV). The preliminary hearing for case No. 7/PUU-XXI/2023 took place on Tuesday, January 24, 2023 in the panel courtroom.
Article 218 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code reads, “Any person who, in public, harms the honor or dignity of the President or Vice President shall be punished by a maximum imprisonment of 3 (three) years and 6 (six) months or a maximum fine of category IV.”
Article 219 reads, “Any person who disseminates, demonstrates openly, or puts up a writing or portrait, plays a recording, or disseminates by means of information technology any information containing an insult against the President or Vice President with intent to make the contents public or to make them more public shall be punished by a maximum imprisonment of 4 (four) years and 6 (six) months or a maximum fine of category IV.”
Article 240 paragraph (1) reads, “Any person who in public either verbally or in writing insults public authorities or state institutions shall be punished by a maximum imprisonment of 1 (one) year and 6 (six) months or a maximum fine of category II.”
Article 241 paragraph (1) reads, “Any person who disseminates, demonstrates openly, or puts up a writing or portrait, plays a recording, or disseminates by means of information technology any information containing an insult against public authorities or state institutions with intent to make the contents public or to make them more public shall be punished by a maximum imprisonment of 2 (four) years and 6 (six) months or a maximum fine of category III.”
Through legal counsel Zico Leonard Djagardo Simanjuntak, the Petitioners asserted that in exercising the state administration, the Government receives criticisms and inputs from citizens, often in inappropriate ways, which could lead to insults or defamatory statements. Therefore, the Government deserves protection from such acts. However, they argued that it does not afford them a special article in the law.
“It begs the question why there is a special article for anyone who insults the Government when the Criminal Code has regulated insult and defamation against anyone, without exception the Government. The special provision has actually violated the Constitution and the principle of equality before the law as manifested by Article 28D paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution,” Simanjuntak said before Constitutional Justices Suhartoyo (panel chair), Arief Hidayat, and Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh.
He also said the provision has indirectly violated human rights as regulated in Law No. 39 of 1999 on Human Rights. For this reason, the Petitioners requested that the Court declare Article 218 paragraph (1), Article 219, Article 240 paragraph (1), and Article 241 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code unconstitutional and not legally binding.
Justices’ Advice
Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat responded that the enactment of the Juvenile Justice Law is postponed, the old Criminal Code is still in effect, while the new Criminal Code being petitioned is still being disseminated and is not in force in three years.
“The KUHP that is in effect is the old one, while the new one will only be in force in three years. Build an argument that the Court is authorized to adjudicate this case since today or not until three years,” he said before the legal counsel and one of the Petitioners who attended the hearing on site.
Meanwhile, Constitutional Justice Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh asked the Petitioners to include their constitutional impairment. Next, Constitutional Justice Suhartoyo observed the Petitioners’ legal standing. “Provide a comprehensive argument and affirmation on defamation against the president/Government so that it differs from past petitions,” he said.
Before concluding the session, Justice Suhartoyo asked the Petitioners to revise the petition before Monday, February 6, 2023 at 11:00 WIB and submit it to the Registrar’s Office.
Writer : Sri Pujianti
Editor : Nur R.
PR : Muhammad Halim
Translator : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)
Translation uploaded on 1/30/2023 07:37 WIB
Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.
Tuesday, January 24, 2023 | 15:38 WIB 378