Amsal Sitepu Case, DPR Member: The State Must Be Present to Protect Creative Spaces

JAKARTA - A member of Commission III of the House of Representatives (DPR), Abdullah, is worried that the case befalling videographer Amsal Christy Sitepu will create fear among creative workers. It is known that Amsal Sitepu is accused of inflating or marking up the budget in the service of producing village promotional videos through his company, CV Promiseland. “This verdict must not create fear among creative workers in creating works for the state. The state should be present to protect creative spaces, not threaten them with forced corruption charges,” Abdullah stated during a general hearing opinion meeting (RDPU) on the Amsal Sitepu case, quoted from the TVR Parlemen broadcast, Tuesday (31/3/2026). Law enforcement officials are deemed to have failed to understand the characteristics of the creative industry, which cannot be measured by standard fixed prices. “The creative industry has a different character. Ideas, concepts, storytelling, to the editing process are the results of intellectual work that cannot be valued at zero rupiah. It is very inappropriate to conclude that there is inflation without considering the complexity of that work,” Abdullah said. “This criminalisation shows a lag in legal understanding towards the development of the times. We ask the Panel of Judges to consider an acquittal based on objective facts that this is artistic work, not fictitious cost inflation,” Abdullah added. It is known that Amsal Sitepu is a videographer from North Sumatra who became a defendant in a corruption case related to the production of village profile videos in Karo Regency. He is accused of inflating the budget in the service of producing village promotional videos through his company, CV Promiseland. In this case, Amsal is demanded a prison sentence of two years, a fine of Rp 50 million, and an obligation to return state losses amounting to Rp 202 million. Based on the Case Search Information System (SIPP) of the Medan District Court, Amsal is known to have submitted a proposal for producing village profile videos to 20 villages in Karo Regency through CV Promiseland. In the document, the cost of producing a village profile video was offered at Rp 30 million per village. The difference in value comes from several cost components, such as creative concepts, use of equipment, production process, to post-production such as editing and dubbing. This difference in calculation then became one of the bases for the alleged budget inflation in the case ensnaring Amsal Sitepu.