French National Sentenced to Three Months for Defaming NTB Police Chief

Mataram (ANTARA) - The Mataram District Court has sentenced a French national, Ludovic Roche, also known as Ali, to three months in prison in a case concerning the defamation and insult of the Regional Police Chief of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB).

Presiding Judge Lalu Moh. Sandi Iramaya at the Mataram District Court read out the verdict on Wednesday, stating that the defendant had been sentenced to three months in prison. The hearing was conducted with the defendant attending online.

“Trying and sentencing the defendant Ludovic Roche, also known as Ali, to three months in prison,” the judge said.

The panel of judges found the defendant guilty of insulting and defaming an official lawfully carrying out their duties through information technology.

The act was found proven as charged by the public prosecutor under Article 433 paragraph (1) of Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code (KUHP).

Previously, the public prosecutor had sought a five-month prison sentence for the defendant, as he was proven to have violated Article 433 paragraph (1) in conjunction with Article 441 paragraphs (1) and (2) of Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code.

Ludovic, who is married to a woman from North Lombok Regency, was charged with insulting and defaming a National Police official by disseminating a video lasting around two minutes through his Facebook and TikTok accounts.

In the two videos uploaded on 29 and 30 December 2025, Ludovic alleged that the then NTB Regional Police Chief, Inspector General Hadi Gunawan, had been protecting drug trafficking in North Lombok Regency.

He also implicated the North Lombok Resort Police Chief, the Pemenang Sector Police Chief, and an investigator from the North Lombok Resort Police Narcotics Unit.