IDAI Submits Amicus Curiae in Doctor Ratna Setia Asih Case at Pangkalpinang District Court

Public doubts must be answered with a transparent legal process.

The Indonesian Paediatric Society (IDAI) has officially taken a strategic legal step by submitting a Friend of the Court brief, or amicus curiae, in criminal case number 295/Pid.Sus/2025/PN Pgp. The case, being heard at Pangkalpinang District Court, has placed dr. Ratna Setia Asih, Sp.A, in the dock on allegations of medical negligence.

IDAI took this step as a form of moral and scholarly concern to ensure that complex medical cases are not decided on assumptions alone.

IDAI considers the case to have wide-ranging implications for the legal protection of medical personnel in Indonesia, in order to avoid a climate of fear or the criminalisation of national healthcare services.

In the submitted document, IDAI sets out a number of fundamental medical and juridical facts which it hopes will be considered by the panel of judges. The following is a summary of the crucial points:

Support for dr. Ratna is far from trivial. As many as 4,061 individuals from various medical circles across IDAI’s 34 branches throughout Indonesia, from Aceh to Papua, signed the document. They include professors, sub-specialty consultants, and health law experts.

Chairman of the IDAI Central Board, DR Dr Piprim Basarah Yanuarso, SpA, Subsp Kardio(K), stressed that criminal law must not stand on assumptions.

“A doctor must not be punished for a poor medical outcome if there is no scientific evidence establishing a causal link between the doctor’s actions and the patient’s death,” he affirmed.

Echoing this view, Chairman of IDAI’s Member Development and Defence Board (BP2A), Prof. Dr. dr. Aryono Hendarto, stated that the case will set an important precedent for the future of the medical profession. In his view, judges need to consider the intersection between sub-specialty medical service standards and the doctrine of substantive criminal law, so that doctors can work with professional courage rather than fear.

Through this amicus curiae, IDAI and its thousands of supporters appeal to the panel of judges as follows:

“Justice for patients must not be achieved by sacrificing doctors through weak and unscientific proof. This ruling will be the benchmark of the state’s commitment to protecting a humanitarian profession.” - IDAI