Delpedro et al.'s verdict hearing scheduled for Friday 6 March

The Central Jakarta District Court has scheduled the reading of the verdict in the case of alleged incitement involving Delpedro Marhaen, Director of Lokataru Foundation, and colleagues, for Friday 6 March. ‘The verdict will be read on Friday,’ said presiding panel chair Harika Nova Yeri at the Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday (4 March). The other three defendants set to have their verdict read are admin @gejayanmemanggil Syahdan Husein, Lokataru Foundation staff Muzaffar Salim, and Universitas Riau student Khariq Anhar. ‘Session will reopen after Friday prayers, at two o’clock,’ the judge said. Delpedro, Syahdan, Muzaffar, and Khariq were charged with two years’ imprisonment. According to the prosecutors, the defendants were found to have incited electronically in connection with demonstrations from 25-30 August 2025 that culminated in rioting, resulting in damage to public facilities and injuries to security personnel as per the third indictment. ‘(The prosecutors) requested the panel of judges to convict the defendants I Delpedro Marhaen, II Muzaffar Salim, III Syahdan Husein, and IV Khariq Anhar and sentence them to two years’ imprisonment, reduced by the time spent in detention,’ the prosecutor said while reading the criminal charge. The prosecutors noted that the defendants realised Instagram could be an effective platform to disseminate information to the public. The defendants’ Instagram accounts were said to have produced at least 19 collaborative contents during the late August period of demonstrations last year. The prosecutors considered those contents inciting, as they contained provocative and confrontational narratives. The posts also contained hashtags consistently used such as #IndonesiaGelap, #IndonesiaSoldOut, and #ReformasiPolri. The Instagram algorithm, the prosecutor added, made the contents likely to reach a broad audience. The Instagram accounts managed by the defendants under dispute are Blok Politik Pelajar, Lokataru Foundation, Gejayan Memanggil, and Aliansi Mahasiswa Menggugat. ‘The defendants’ acts of uploading content on Instagram have instigated or prompted people to rally, leading to rioting,’ the prosecutors said. ‘The viral content quickly sparked rioting in a short time before it was removed,’ the prosecutor added in their legal reasoning. The defendants face charges for violating Article 28(3) in conjunction with Article 45A of the Information and Electronic Transactions Law (UU ITE) in conjunction with Article 55(1) (1) of the Indonesian Penal Code, or the third indictment under Article 160 of the KUHP in conjunction with Article 55(1) (1) KUHP. They were also charged with violating Article 76H in conjunction with Article 15 in conjunction with Article 87 of Law No. 35 of 2014 on Child Protection in conjunction with Article 55(1) (1) of the KUHP. The defendants were also charged under Article 28(2) in conjunction with Article 45A(2) UU ITE in conjunction with Article 55(1) (1) KUHP. However, the first indictment was dropped by the panel for failing to meet formal and material requirements of the indictment. (ryn/isn) [CNN video caption]