Minister Pigai Deems Report Against Feri Amsari Unnecessary: No Need Even to Respond

Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai believes that reporting constitutional law expert from Andalas University, Feri Amsari, regarding his criticism of the government’s food self-sufficiency policy is unnecessary. The Tani Nusantara Legal Aid Institute (LBH Tani Nusantara) is known to have reported Feri Amsari to the Metro Jaya Police over his statements in a discussion. “Feri Amsari is also not an agriculture expert, so he lacks competence in that field. Not to mention reporting him to the police, there’s no need even to respond,” said Pigai in a statement confirmed in Jakarta on Sunday (19/4/2026). According to him, opinions or criticisms of government policies are the rights of citizens guaranteed by the constitution. Therefore, public views should be answered with data, facts, and credible information by the relevant authorities. Pigai stressed that criticism cannot be criminalised, unless it contains elements of incitement leading to rebellion, accompanied by actions, and attacks on ethnicity, race, and religion. The statement was also conveyed by Pigai in response to the police report against social-political observer from Jakarta State University, Ubedilah Badrun. He assessed that the criticism voiced by both remains within the corridor of critique against public policy. From a human rights perspective, he continued, society holds the rights, while the government has the obligation to fulfil and respond to public needs. Therefore, criticism should be viewed as a form of social control over government performance. Pigai also called on all parties to maintain a culture of literacy and a healthy public discourse space. He assessed that Indonesia is in a phase of increasingly mature democracy, so responses to criticism should not necessarily end in reports to law enforcement authorities. He suspected that reports against academics criticising policies could potentially be exploited to discredit the government. “Policing fellow citizens like this could give the impression that the government is anti-criticism and anti-democracy,” he said. Previously, the Tani Nusantara Legal Aid Institute (LBH Tani Nusantara) reported Feri Amsari to the Metro Jaya Police regarding his statements in a discussion on food self-sufficiency. The Advocacy Team of LBH Tani Nusantara, Itho Simamora, assessed that the statements were inciting and potentially causing unrest among farmers and business actors. “Those statements are deemed to trigger public unrest,” he said at the Metro Jaya Police on Friday (17/4/2026).