Hotman Paris Apologises Again for Dragging Prabowo into Febrie Case
Lawyer Hotman Paris has apologised again after invoking President Prabowo Subianto whilst defending his client, former Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes, Febrie Adriansyah.
On his personal Instagram account, he offered a specific apology to the President, Attorney General Sanitiar Burhanuddin, National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, and Jakarta Metropolitan Police Chief Commissioner-General Asep Edi Suheri over remarks he made at a press conference at the Attorney General’s Office.
Hotman had claimed that Febrie Adriansyah was a figure Prabowo took pride in for his intensive efforts to combat corruption, yet was being criminalised.
“Hotman expresses his apology if there were any words or actions of mine that caused offence during the press conference after the questioning of the former Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes at the Attorney General’s Office on 17 July 2026,” he said.
Hotman admitted that his remarks touching on President Prabowo were made purely in the interest of defending his client. He insisted there was no other motive nor any political interest whatsoever.
“Whatever I said was purely from a legal advocacy perspective; there was no political motive or involvement of any kind. It was simply speech as a lawyer whose task is to try to protect his client legally,” he said.
“Once again, Mr President of the Republic of Indonesia, Mr Attorney General, Mr National Police Chief and Mr Jakarta Metropolitan Police Chief, once again Hotman apologises. Thank you,” he added.
Earlier, Hotman had described the case against Febrie as a form of criminalisation. He said he felt saddened by his client’s current condition.
In fact, according to Hotman, during his tenure as Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes, Febrie was a high achiever who became a source of pride for President Prabowo, having recovered state assets in staggering amounts.
“The Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes was someone President Prabowo took pride in. He secured the recovery of Rp130 trillion in state losses, plus Rp300 trillion from the Illegal Fishing Eradication Task Force. A total of Rp430 trillion returned to the state. Imagine, someone who was the President’s pride suddenly being criminalised without so much as a word to the President,” he said.
Meanwhile, State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi affirmed that the government has left the case entirely to the legal process. Pras asked that no one link it to the President.
“Do not keep tying it to the President. We fully return it to the applicable legal mechanism,” Pras said after a meeting with House Commission V on Monday (20/7).
Pras also stressed that law enforcement does not need the President’s permission to process a legal case. He affirmed that the government wants the Febrie case handled in accordance with the law.
“I don’t think there’s any requirement that presidential permission be sought merely because a case is still under investigation,” he said.