Natalius Pigai: Live Coverage of Unfinalised Trials Violates Human Rights

BANDUNG, Kompas.com - The Minister of Human Rights Natalius Pigai said that live broadcasting or media reporting of court proceedings that have not yet obtained final and binding status may be categorised as a violation of human rights (HAM).

Pigai made the remark during his keynote address at the HAM Journalists Class in Bandung, West Java, on Wednesday, 20 May 2026.

“So, if a person is accused under international human rights law and is tried in court until a ruling is issued, that should not be reported,” Pigai said.

Pigai said that in international human rights instruments, the trial process should not be widely exposed to the public while the case has not been decided finally.

However, he continued, such practices still occur in Indonesia with the rationale of press freedom and the public’s right to know information.

“In accordance with human rights instruments, the trial process must not be reported,” he stated.

“But in Indonesia, in the name of freedom of expression, in the name of freedom of the press, the right to know, it must be broadcast openly. That violates human rights, but we understand it,” said the former Komnas HAM commissioner.

According to him, a person who has been declared not guilty by a court has the right to request the deletion of digital footprints that harm him.

“A person who is accused and taunted by the media all the time but the court rules that he is innocent, not at fault, may ask the court to delete all content, all traces of him. That is a guarantee of privacy rights,” he concluded.