Gus Dur's Daughter, UGM BEM Chair, Attends Verdict Hearing for Botok and Colleagues in Pati
A number of figures were seen at the Pati District Court, Central Java, to witness the reading of the verdict against activists Supriyono alias Botok and Teguh Istiyanto on Thursday (5 March). Among them were UGM BEM chairman Tiyo Ardianto and Inayah Wahid, the youngest daughter of the fourth Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur).
Inayah said her visit to PN Pati was to express support and solidarity for Botok and Teguh, urging that people in Pati continue to voice criticisms against injustice.
‘Yes, I support so that the people can continue to voice out, not be criminalised bit by bit. This is their right,’ Inayah said, quoted by detikJateng.
Inayah noted that the public should view the matter in full, from the August 13, 2025 protests over a 250 per cent tax rise to the guarding of the plenary session for the impeachment of Regent Sudewo on October 31, 2025.
‘We must view this matter in full,’ she added.
They witnessed the verdict hearing directly in the Cakra courtroom at PN Pati.
‘I, together with other BEM leaders, stand in solidarity because the enforcement of law is increasingly used as a tool of power to silence the people,’ said Tiyo.
He argued the charges against the two defendants were nonsensical. He likened Botok and his AMPB colleagues to angels, while Sudewo—the Pati Regent who is now a KPK suspect—was the devil.
‘We came here recognising there are irrationalities—between angels and devils, protagonists and antagonists. Between good and evil, and there is nothing in this world where the evil fight the evil. Mas Botok and Mas Teguh and AMPB friends are fighting Mr Sudewo,’ he said.
‘Mr Sudewo has been shown corrupt through the KPK’s OTT; thus in a world of angels and devils, Sudewo is the devil and Botok and Teguh with AMPB are the angels,’ he added.
He described Botok and Teguh as heroes.
‘Therefore it should not be the defendants who are punished; they should be hailed as heroes for opposing a cruel power against the people. Instead, both face charges of obstructing roads,’ he explained.
‘If every roadblock leads to criminalisation, then not only Botok but others who organise religious study gatherings should be arrested. In other words, charges cannot be applied indiscriminately because this is part of the democratic process,’ said Tiyo.
Consequently, Tiyo urged that the two defendants be acquitted.
‘They should be released without a trace of a guilty verdict,’ he stated.
Teguh and Botok are the defendants in the case of blocking the Pantura Pati–Rembang road during a demonstration to oversee the impeachment plenary session of Regent Sudewo on 31 October.
In the February 20 PN Pati indictment hearing, Botok and Teguh were each charged by the public prosecutor with 10 months’ imprisonment.
The Pati City Police deployed 1,349 combined personnel to secure the proceedings for Botok and Teguh.
‘That roughly a thousand personnel came not only from Polresta Pati but also included personnel from the former Keresidenan Pati area to safeguard the proceedings today (5/3),’ said Polresta Pati Commissioner of Police Jaka Wahyudi in Pati.