Prosecutor Denies Intimidation of Amsal Sitepu via Brownies: It Was Purely Humanitarian

Prosecutors from the Karo District Prosecutor’s Office, Wira Arizona, provided clarification regarding allegations of intimidation against videographer Amsal Christy Sitepu in the handling of the suspected corruption case involving the production of village profile videos in Karo Regency. Wira denied intimidating by giving brownies during the examination of Amsal Sitepu at Tanjung Gusta Prison. Wira emphasised that his arrival at Tanjung Gusta Prison was preceded by coordination with Amsal’s legal representatives. “I will explain the chronology regarding the alleged intimidation. First, I will explain the arrival at Tanjung Gusta Prison on the agenda of examining the suspect Mr Amsal. We had previously coordinated with Mr Amsal’s lawyer. So from there, we had no intention whatsoever to intimidate because we had coordinated with Mr Amsal’s lawyer to be present at Tanjung Gusta, to meet at Tanjung Gusta for the examination,” Wira said during a hearing at Commission III of the DPR in the Parliamentary Complex, Senayan, on Thursday (2/4). Wira explained that on the day of the examination, Amsal’s legal advisor was unable to attend. He then stressed that the giving of food was done openly and witnessed by other members of the prosecutorial team without any verbal threats. “However, at that time, the legal advisor was unable to attend due to certain reasons that I cannot mention here. And I was not alone; there were two colleagues from my team as well. It was also witnessed that the handover was not from my hand, but from my staff’s hand, and there was no conversation at all, sir,” he stated. Furthermore, Wira assured that the action was purely based on conscience and empathy, not a legal strategy to pressure the suspect. He even claimed that the behaviour of sharing food has become a tradition or culture practised by his subordinates in their area of duty. “With permission, I had no intention whatsoever. We were purely prioritising humanitarian feelings and conscience. And here I will also provide some documentation from 2024. This has become our culture, sir, in the Land of Karo, sir,” Wira asserted firmly. This clarification has drawn serious attention from Commission III of the Indonesian House of Representatives, which is delving into allegations of procedural deviations in the Amsal Sitepu case. The case previously sparked public reaction after Amsal was detained for 131 days on charges of mark-up in the village profile video budget amounting to Rp1 million, but was ultimately declared not guilty by the Medan District Court.