Cyber-graffiti costs six months in slammer

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The country's first defendant in a cyber crime, Dani Firmansyah, 25, was sentenced on Thursday to six months and 21 days imprisonment after he was found guilty of defacing the General Elections Commission (KPU) website in April.

Presiding judge Hamdi ruled that the defendant had caused much distress and had, he said, undermined the reputation of the country's Internet experts.

"We consider the defendant's statement that he did not know that hacking KPU's website was violating the law as an incriminating factor in the sentence," he told the courtroom at the Central Jakarta District Court.

However, the judge said, Dani had been very polite during the trial, and considering his young age and intellectualism, the panel of judges expected him to some day become an Internet expert.

The judges said despite Dani's stated motive that he wished to test the KPU's security systems, they said that a guilty verdict was necessary to serve as a warning to the public.

"This case should remind all of us that in executing democracy, people should not forget their manners," Hamdi added.

The penalty was more lenient than that sought by prosecutor Ramos Hutapea, who demanded a one-year jail sentence and Rp 10 million (US$1,100) fine against Dani.

Dani was arrested by the police on April 22 at the office of PT Danareksa in Central Jakarta, where he worked as an IT staff member, and was made a suspect over the hacking of the KPU website, giving participating political parties funny or insulting names.

He was charged under Article 22 of the telecommunications law for illegally accessing a telecommunications network and/or service, and Article 38 of the same law for causing a physical or electromagnetic disturbance to a telecommunications service.

The articles carry a maximum sentence of six years in prison and/or a fine of Rp 600 million.

Dani's lawyer, Agus Nasrudin, said he felt satisfied with the verdict. "But we will talk to Dani first about our next step," he was quoted as saying by Antara.