Nabilah's Legal Team Explains Choice of Restorative Justice with Zendhy Kusuma

Nabilah O’Brien’s legal team has disclosed that their client chose to pursue restorative justice (RJ) in her dispute with guitarist Zendhy Kusuma and his wife Evi Santi, rather than pursuing a pre-trial motion to have her suspect status dropped.

Nabilah’s legal counsel, Goldie N Swarovski, stated that the RJ decision was not motivated by fear or guilt, but rather by magnanimity to forgive. “Nabilah chose RJ because she was motivated by compassion to forgive. She wanted to end the commotion that consumed her time, energy, and effort over the past six months. She wants to refocus on building her business and provide peace of mind to her employees,” Goldie said on Thursday (12 March).

Goldie affirmed that Nabilah’s initial decision to report Zendhy and his wife to Mampang Police Substation for alleged theft with aggravating circumstances was correct, as evidenced by both being designated as suspects. However, Nabilah was subsequently reported in return to the Criminal Investigation Directorate of the Indonesian National Police (Bareskrim Polri). Goldie suggested there were irregularities behind this development.

“Although reporting is every citizen’s right and we have been cooperative, we feel this investigation tends to ‘manufacture’ faults against our client. The investigators appear to view the case in isolation, without examining the root cause (causality) of why the post was made,” Goldie stated.

Goldie’s team also identified several critical administrative irregularities in Nabilah’s suspect designation letter, including the absence of a date and identity errors. “The suspect designation letter lacks fundamental procedural validity. It has no date and contains an error in persona—the name recorded does not match perfectly with our client’s true identity. How could such a major institution issue a legal document so carelessly to determine someone’s legal status?” Goldie asked.

Before the mediation process, the legal team had taken several countermeasures, including complaints to the Criminal Investigation Directorate’s Internal Affairs Bureau (Wassidik) and Anti-Corruption Division, as well as plans to file a pre-trial motion. These steps were reinforced after attracting the attention of the Chairman of Commission III of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Habiburokhman, who agreed to review the case comprehensively and objectively.

Goldie stated that justice had already been proven: the wrongful taking of goods without payment and intimidation were offences demonstrated by the suspect status initially imposed on the opposing party. “Our client won morally and in principle. With this RJ, we close the book on this case with our heads held high, for the sake of peace and humanity,” Goldie concluded.

The case originated when Zendhy Kusuma and his wife became emotional after food they ordered at Nabilah’s restaurant failed to arrive. Not only did they verbally abuse kitchen staff, but they also took food without paying. Nabilah reported the couple to police, and both were subsequently designated as suspects.

Both parties later withdrew their respective complaints at police stations. Police Headquarters (Mabes Polri) confirmed that both parties attended mediation at the headquarters on Sunday (8 March) and completed a peace agreement, with each party withdrawing their reports.