Delpedro on Two-Year Prison Sentence: We Appreciate the Prosecutors' Hard Work, Although Flawed

Delpedro Marhaen, director of Lokataru Foundation, expressed appreciation for the hard work of the Prosecutors’ Office whilst rejecting their recommended two-year prison sentence against him in a case involving alleged incitement related to demonstrations on 25-30 August 2025.

“We appreciate the prosecutors’ hard work, even though it’s flawed,” Delpedro stated following a hearing at Jakarta Central District Court on Friday (27 February) where prosecutors read out their criminal charges.

Delpedro asserted that the prosecution’s charges do not reflect the legal facts revealed during trial proceedings. He noted that child witnesses and witnesses from the protest side testified that they did not feel incited by social media content created by himself and three other defendants.

Furthermore, Delpedro emphasised, expert witnesses presented in court stated that the unrest during the August events could not be attributed to a single factor alone.

“Based on these conclusions, we believe the prosecution’s charges do not accurately reflect the trial proceedings and obscure the main facts and the primary objective of investigating the August unrest,” he stated.

Despite his disappointment, Delpedro insisted that the two-year prison sentence recommendation does not intimidate or frighten him.

“The two-year sentence recommendation certainly does not deter or frighten us. Rather, it becomes another test for the judges, for the public, and for our legal system—to see how it can correct the prosecution’s flawed reasoning. That is where we look to the judges,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Syahdan Husein, an activist from Gejayan Memanggil, urged the panel of judges to render a verdict based on the legal facts presented during trial, protesting against the two-year prison sentence recommended by prosecutors.

“I pray that the judges’ ruling will be lenient for us,” said Syahdan.

The prosecution had previously sought to have Delpedro Marhaen and Syahdan Husein sentenced to two years imprisonment.

The prosecution levelled identical charges against two other defendants: Muzaffar Salim, staff member of Lokataru Foundation and manager of the Blok Politik Pelajar Instagram account, and Khariq Anhar, a student from Riau University and administrator of Aliansi Mahasiswa Menggugat.

According to prosecutors, the defendants have been proven to have committed electronic incitement in connection with the 25-30 August 2025 demonstrations that resulted in rioting, causing damage to public facilities and injuries to law enforcement officers, in accordance with the third charge under Article 246 of Law Number 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code (KUHP) in conjunction with Article 20(c) of the KUHP.

“The panel is urged to impose two years imprisonment on Defendant I Delpedro Marhaen, Defendant II Muzaffar Salim, Defendant III Syahdan Husein, and Defendant IV Khariq Anhar, reduced by the time spent in detention,” the prosecutor stated when reading the sentencing recommendation at Jakarta Central District Court on Friday (27 February).

Prosecutors argued that the defendants were aware that Instagram served as an effective platform for disseminating information to the public.

The defendants, through the Instagram accounts they managed, reportedly created at least 19 collaborative posts during the late August demonstration period. Prosecutors characterised these posts as inciteful because they contained provocative and confrontational narratives.

The posts also contained consistent hashtags such as #IndonesiaGelap (Dark Indonesia), #IndonesiaSoldOut, and #ReformasiPolri (Police Reform). Instagram’s algorithm, prosecutors added, meant that the defendants’ content had the potential to reach a wide audience.

The Instagram accounts in question, managed by the defendants and cited by prosecutors, included Blok Politik Pelajar, Lokataru Foundation, Gejayan Memanggil, and Aliansi Mahasiswa Menggugat.

“The defendants’ posting of content on Instagram effectively called for or incited participation in protests that resulted in rioting,” the prosecutor stated in their sentencing rationale.