Hotman Paris Apologises to Journalists After Losing Temper During Questioning
The Ministry of Religious Affairs seems beset by one problem after another.
Prominent lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea has issued an apology to all journalists and press professional organisations, including the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI). The move follows calls from press organisations regarding statements deemed demeaning to the journalism profession, made during a press conference on the case of former Chief Prosecutor Febrie Adriansyah.
Hotman clarified that the emotionally charged remark was triggered by the situation on the ground. Nevertheless, he felt it necessary to apologise openly.
“With this statement, I offer my sincerest apologies for what I said during the press conference on the case of the former Chief Prosecutor, when I said, ‘Do you have a brain or not?’. Regardless of the actual facts of what happened, emotions were running high at the time, and I still apologise to that journalist and to journalists’ organisations across Indonesia,” Hotman said in an official statement on Monday (20 July 2026).
Hotman explained that the video clip or quote circulating in the mass media only showed the final part of the exchange without presenting the full context. He recounted the sequence of events that led to his frustration and the spontaneous remark.
According to Hotman, a journalist initially asked him whether the relevant law enforcement agency had a hidden agenda in investigating the case. Hotman immediately replied that he did not know, feeling he lacked the capacity to comment on the internal affairs of another institution.
However, before he could finish his explanation, a second journalist pressed him again with an operational question about whether the institution had made an error.
“In the end I got emotional because I had repeatedly said I did not know, so I replied, ‘Do you have a brain or not?’. What I meant was that I had already answered that I did not know; it seemed impossible for me to answer what the hidden agenda of a law enforcement institution might be,” he explained.
Hotman insisted he had absolutely no intention of demeaning the journalistic profession or damaging the long-standing good relations he has maintained with the media.
“Once again, there was no intention whatsoever; it was simply because I was bombarded with two questions that I had already said I could not answer because I lack the capacity to do so, yet I was asked again and again, so I became emotional. Once again, I offer my apology,” Hotman concluded.
Previously, the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI) and the Association of Legal Journalists (Iwakum) strongly condemned the statements of the prominent lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea, which demeaned the dignity and profession of journalists after he accompanied his client, former Chief Prosecutor of the Attorney General’s Office Febrie Adriansyah, to an examination as a corruption suspect on Friday (17 July 2026).
Iwakum Chairman Irfan Kamil highlighted Hotman Paris’s statement, including his remark “Do you have a brain or not?” directed at a journalist carrying out their duties at the Attorney General’s Office.
“We strongly condemn this and demand that Hotman Paris apologise for statements that demean journalists and point towards the silencing of press freedom,” Kamil said in his statement on Sunday (19 July 2026).
Kamil highlighted Hotman Paris’s remarks attacking journalists’ intellectual capacity. Beyond being arrogant, the statement demeaned journalists’ dignity and was unbecoming of a senior advocate.
“The statement ‘Do you have a brain or not?’ is not criticism, but an insult to journalists,” Kamil said.
Kamil said journalists have the right to ask questions in order to obtain information, particularly as the press conference held by Hotman Paris concerned the case of former Chief Prosecutor Febrie Adriansyah, which has drawn public attention.
On the other hand, he said, a source has the right to refuse to answer, provide clarification, or correct the substance of a question. However, that right cannot be used as a justification for attacking journalists’ intellectual capacity.
“A source may decline to answer. A source may also rebut a journalist’s question. But no one has the right to respond to a journalistic question with insults and personal attacks,” Kamil said.
The Attorney General’s Office’s decision not to detain Febrie Adriansyah despite his status as a suspect in an alleged corruption case is considered potentially giving rise to a perception of injustice.
A petition of experts has warned against the politicisation of the case of former Chief Prosecutor Febrie Adriansyah, urging that it proceed under the Criminal Procedure Code without presidential intervention or approval.
The Gerindra Party’s central leadership board has affirmed that President Prabowo Subianto never interfered in the law, denying Hotman Paris’s statement regarding the case of the former Chief Prosecutor.
Hotman Paris’s Instagram account lost tens of thousands of followers after he officially became legal counsel for former Chief Prosecutor Febrie Adriansyah, according to the latest Social Blade data.
Hotman Paris, legal counsel for former Chief Prosecutor Febrie Adriansyah, has denied that his client received Rp50 billion from Tan Kian in connection with the PT Asabri corruption case.