Judge warns visitors not to disrupt verdict reading for Delpedro and associates

At the Central Jakarta District Court, the verdict-reading in the case of alleged incitement related to protests that escalated into violence in August last year proceeded with the four defendants—Delpedro Marhaen (Executive Director of Lokataru) and three others—present. The judge reminded attendees to maintain order, stating: ‘If there are voices that disrupt the court proceedings, then we may not be able to complete the reading of the verdict. If you cannot follow the proceedings, please step outside to avoid causing a disturbance, so that we can carry out the verdict reading to its conclusion.’ He added: ‘If there are voices of disruption, shouts, we will stop the reading. Is that understood?’ The audience answered ‘Yes.’ ‘Okay, please cooperate as that will disrupt our concentration in reading the verdict for the defendants. This is a courtroom, a space for seeking justice, not a space for noisy outbursts,’ the judge continued. Security personnel were asked to anticipate crowd noise, and defendant Syahdan urged attendees to follow the proceedings in an orderly fashion: ‘To all of you, as has been conveyed earlier, I reiterate, please ensure you can comply with the proceedings so that our decision will be clear today.’ Earlier, during the indictment hearing, the Jakarta Central District Court charged Delpedro and three others with two years in prison. The prosecutor stated that Delpedro faced charges under Article 246 in conjunction with Article 20C of Law No. 1 of 2023 of the Indonesian Penal Code. ‘Two, to sentence defendants Delpedro, Muzaffar, Syahdan and Khariq to two years in prison, with deduction for time already spent in custody,’ the prosecutor added.