Commission III Asserts Acquittal Verdict for Amsal Sitepu Cannot Be Appealed

Commission III Chairman Habiburokhman stated that the public prosecutors at the Karo District Prosecutor’s Office cannot appeal the acquittal verdict for videographer Amsal Sitepu.

This conclusion arose from a Commission III DPR audience meeting with the North Sumatra High Prosecutor’s Office (Kejati) and the Karo District Prosecutor’s Office at the Parliamentary Complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Thursday (2/4).

“Commission III of the DPR RI emphasises that the handling of the case of Mr Amsal Christy Sitepu is in line with the spirit of the new KUHAP provisions, whereby acquittal decisions cannot be subject to legal remedies, either appeals or cassation,” said Habib.

The meeting, attended by Amsal, resulted in five conclusions. In addition to affirming that Amsal’s acquittal cannot be appealed, Commission III also urged an evaluation of the North Sumatra Prosecutor’s Office in the aftermath of the Amsal case.

The evaluation results must be submitted to Commission III in writing within a maximum of one month.

Thirdly, Commission III requested that law enforcement authorities investigate allegations of intimidation against Amsal by Public Prosecutor (JPU) Wira Arizona, Head of the Special Crimes Section (Kasi Pidsus) Reinhard Harve Sembiring, and Head of the Intelligence Section (Kasi Intel) Dona Martinus Sebayang.

Fourthly, Commission III asked the Deputy Attorney General for Supervision to investigate allegations that the Prosecutor’s Office had propagated the notion that Commission III of the DPR RI had intervened in the Amsal case.

Finally, Commission III, continued Habib, requested that the Prosecutor’s Office conduct an examination or review of the case for evaluation purposes.

“Those were the conclusions we conveyed earlier, and of course, those conclusions are binding on the prosecutor’s office, which is our partner; we hope that these five conclusions can truly be implemented,” said Habib.