Amsal Christy Sitepu Case Ends in Acquittal Verdict, DPR: Protection for Creative Work
Deputy Chairman of DPR Commission III, Moh. Rano Alfath, has commended the Medan District Court’s decision to acquit videographer Amsal Christy Sitepu, who was accused of corruption in producing village profile videos in Karo Regency. Rano views this verdict as a vital moment for law enforcement to more carefully differentiate between administrative disputes, the value of creative works, and criminal corruption. According to him, the panel of judges demonstrated courage by not solely relying on a normative approach but also considering the sense of justice prevalent in society.
“This decision reaffirms that the law must not operate rigidly and detached from social realities. What the panel of judges has decided today reflects sensitivity to public perceptions of justice, especially for creative workers,” Rano stated in his remarks on Thursday (2/4/2026).
From a criminal law perspective, the legislator from Banten stressed that the application of Article 3 of the Corruption Eradication Law must be proven with elements of abuse of authority and malicious intent (mens rea). In Amsal’s case, Rano sees a mistake in assessing professional services that inherently lack fixed pricing standards.
He reminded that law enforcement must not rely solely on numerical discrepancies or constructions of state losses without full proof of malicious intent.
“If those aspects are not fulfilled, then forcing the use of criminal instruments could potentially cause injustice. Not all administratively calculated losses can immediately be qualified as state losses in a criminal context,” he asserted.
Rano believes this case should serve as a major lesson for auditing agencies and investigators. In his view, an approach that deems components such as ideas, editing, or other creative processes as valueless is a logical error.
He opined that equating creative work with the logic of ordinary physical goods procurement would diminish the intellectual value of a work.
“Creative work cannot be measured solely by material parameters. It involves ideas, thought processes, experience, and skills built over years. All of that has value that cannot be averaged out or ignored,” said the PKB politician.
Furthermore, Rano connected this legal protection to the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. He argued that in the AI era, human originality becomes increasingly valuable and must be protected by the state’s legal system.
“In the midst of AI advancements, we must be increasingly aware that the human mind with its originality is irreplaceable. The state must be present to protect and appreciate that value, not the opposite,” he concluded.