Parliament to Summon Karo District Prosecutor's Head and Prosecutor in Amsal Sitepu Videographer Case
Commission III of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) will summon the Head of the Karo District Prosecutor’s Office (Kajari Karo) and the Public Prosecutor (JPU) in the case of alleged markup in the production of village profile videos by videographer Amsal Christy Sitepu on Thursday (2/4).
Commission III Chairman Habiburrokhman stated that there appears to be resistance, allegedly orchestrated by Kajari Karo, following the commission’s meeting to discuss the Amsal case on Monday (30/3).
“We see resistance, possibly from corrupt law enforcement officials who are uncomfortable with our activities in hearing public aspirations and holding RDPU. Today, a group of people demonstrated there. I don’t know if it was instigated by Kajari Karo or not, but we will investigate,” said Habib at the parliamentary complex on Wednesday (1/4).
He mentioned that there is also a narrative being built by Kejari Karo regarding the suspension of Amsal’s detention.
Habib explained that the suspension of Amsal’s detention was previously requested by Commission III of the DPR and granted by the judge.
“It is a court product, approved by the court. Once approved, Amsal should not have returned to prison. He should have been released immediately. But our colleague Mr Hinca Panjaitan had to wait several hours for the prosecutor from the Karo District Prosecutor’s Office to arrive and sign the documents,” he said.
According to him, the Karo District Prosecutor’s Office is creating propaganda as if Commission III violated procedures regarding the suspension of detention.
“They are creating propaganda as if we violated procedures, when in fact they are the ones who have gone far beyond substantive procedures,” Habib stated.
“We will summon Kajari Karo along with his prosecutors tomorrow, and we will also invite the Prosecutor’s Commission to evaluate such matters,” he added.
He expressed disappointment with the attitude of the Karo District Prosecutor’s Office staff. However, Habib noted that the Attorney General’s Office has always responded positively to input from the DPR.
“We are ready to be accountable for what we have done in the past few days regarding Amsal Sitepu. We are prepared. Therefore, we will summon them, we will hear their reasons if they are indeed behind the propaganda, steering statements as if the public’s aspirations are wrong, and as if we are intervening. We will check tomorrow here what it’s like,” he said.
Touching on the acquittal verdict
However, on the other hand, Habiburrokhman assessed that the judge who issued the acquittal verdict has implemented Article 5 of the Judicial Power Law.
That article states that judges and constitutional judges are obliged to explore, follow, and understand legal values and the sense of justice that live in society.
“So once again, we highly appreciate the Panel of Judges. Because we are the party pushing for the continuous improvement of judges’ welfare,” said Habib during a press conference at the parliamentary complex on Wednesday (1/4).
According to Habib, the panel of judges who tried Amsal’s case has thoroughly analysed the facts of the case and the evidence. Thus, in that case, creative works are indeed different from goods procurement because they are subjective in nature.
He also mentioned the proposed salary increase for judges up to 280 percent, which is a proposal from Commission III. Not only for career judges, but also ad hoc judges.
“At the beginning of our term in this period, we proposed it directly, and Alhamdulillah, it was implemented by President Prabowo a few months ago; career judges’ salaries increased by 280 percent, followed by ad hoc Mahkamah judges,” said Habib.
Previously, the panel of judges issued an acquittal verdict for videographer Amsal Christy Sitepu, the defendant in the trial at the Medan District Court on Wednesday (1/4).
Amsal was found not guilty of markup in the production of village profile videos in Karo Regency for the 2020-2022 Fiscal Year, which was said to have caused state losses of Rp202,161,980.