PWI Reports Hotman Paris to Polda Metro Jaya: Apology Accepted, but Legal Process Continues

The Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI) has reported prominent lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea (HP) to the Polda Metro Jaya following a statement made during a press conference on the case of former Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes, Febrie Adriansyah, which was deemed to belittle and insult the journalism profession. The police report was officially registered with the number LP/B/5291/VII/2026/SPKT/POLDA METRO JAYA, dated Monday, 20 July 2026. The case is planned to be handled by the Polda Metro Jaya’s Cyber Crime Directorate. “We agreed to file this report with the number 5291/VII/2026/SPKT Polda Metro Jaya. So, the person reported here has the initials HP. We hope this report can be followed up by Polda Metro Jaya,” said PWI’s Director of Anti-Violence against Journalists, Edison Siahaan, at Polda Metro Jaya Headquarters on Monday (20/7). Edison explained that his party submitted a number of strong pieces of evidence in the form of a video recording of Hotman Paris’s emotional statement to the media. At the time, Hotman Paris asked in an emotional tone, “Do you have a brain, or not?”. “We discussed the situation with the investigators, we explained it, we gave them the video evidence. Then it was decided by agreement that the article we are applying is Article 242 of the Criminal Code, regarding hate speech against a group,” he explained. Responding to the public apology video uploaded by Hotman Paris on his personal Instagram account, Edison asserted that his party openly accepts the apology. However, he stressed that an apology does not automatically stop the legal process. “We accept the apology on a humanitarian level. We are also forgiving people. But the criminal act committed does not reduce or eliminate the criminal act with an apology. It might be a mitigating factor, and it will be up to the judge to assess that later,” Edison asserted.