Delpedro Marhaen and Co-Defendants Acquitted; Incitement to August 2025 Demonstration Not Proven

An Indonesian court in Central Jakarta acquitted Delpedro Marhaen Rismansyah and three co-defendants of incitement charges linked to the August 2025 demonstration. The Central Jakarta District Court panel found that Delpedro Marhaen Rismansyah, Muzaffar Salim, Syahdan Husein, and Khariq Anhar were not proven beyond reasonable doubt to have incited the rioting that accompanied the August 2025 protest. ‘The defendants I–IV were not proven beyond reasonable doubt to have committed the offences charged in the first to fourth indictments,’ said Chief Panel Judge Harika Nova Yeri during the verdict reading at PN Jakarta Pusat, Kemayoran, on Friday 6 March 2026. The judge also ordered the four defendants released from detention after the verdict and called for restoration of their rights, status, and dignity. Previously, the State Prosecutors (JPU) of PN Jakarta Pusat had charged Delpedro Marhaen Rismansyah with a two-year prison term, which also applied to the other three defendants in the case: Muzaffar Salim, Syahdan Husein and Khariq Anhar. ‘The defendants were sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, reduced by the time they had already spent in detention,’ the JPU said in presenting the indictment at PN Jakarta Pusat on Friday 26 February 2026. The JPU also sought immediate remand in custody. The JPU claimed that the four defendants violated Article 246 in conjunction with Article 20C of Law Number 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code. Delpedro Marhaen and the three colleagues had previously been charged with uploading around 80 posts and/or collaboratively created content that incited at social media platforms connected to the August 2025 actions. According to the JPU, based on testimony from witnesses who are police personnel, the 80 posts were the result of cyber patrols. ‘(The uploads were made) with the aim of stirring hatred toward the government on the Instagram social-media platform by the defendants,’ the JPU said during the hearing at PN Jakarta Pusat on 16 December 2025.