Minister Pigai on Criticism from Feri Amsari: Not Even Worth Responding To, Let Alone Reporting to the Police!

Jakarta – Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai has spoken out regarding the report filed against constitutional law expert from Andalas University, Feri Amsari.

Amsari was reported in connection with his criticism of the government’s food self-sufficiency policy. According to Pigai, the report against Amsari’s criticism is unnecessary.

“Feri Amsari is not an agriculture expert, so he lacks competence in that field. Not only does it not need to be reported to the police, it doesn’t even need to be responded to,” said Pigai in his statement, as reported by ANTARA on Sunday, 19 April 2026.

According to him, opinions or criticisms of government policies are rights of citizens guaranteed by the constitution. Therefore, public views should be answered with data, facts, and credible information by the relevant authorities.

Pigai emphasised that criticism cannot be criminalised, except if it contains elements of incitement leading to rebellion, accompanied by actions, as well as attacks on ethnicity, race, and religion.

This statement was also made by Pigai in response to the police report against social-political observer from Jakarta State University, Ubedilah Badrun. He assessed that the criticisms voiced by both remain within the corridor of criticism of 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 space for public discourse. He noted that Indonesia is in a phase of increasingly mature democracy, so responses to criticism should not lead to reports to law enforcement authorities.

He suspected that reports against academics criticising policies could potentially be exploited to discredit the government.

“Polling fellow citizens like this can give the impression that the government is anti-criticism and anti-democracy,” he said.

Previously, the 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 seen as triggering public unrest,” he said at the Metro Jaya Police on Friday, 17 April 2026.