Responding to Reports Filed with Polda Metro, Hotman Paris: Don't Worry Lah
Prominent lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea has responded casually to a complaint filed by the Online Journalists Association with Polda Metro Jaya over alleged insult. Polda Metro Jaya has received two reports against Hotman filed by the Persatuan Wartawan Indonesia (PWI) and Media Independen Online (MIO) Indonesia.
“Don’t worry lah, don’t worry,” said Hotman at a press conference on Thursday (23/7).
Hotman asserted that he is being cooperative and ready to answer a police summons should clarification be required.
“Of course I’ll come if summoned. Look, I abide by the law, that’s all there is to it. So it’s nothing, it’s not a problem,” said Hotman.
Hotman explained that the case stems from the dynamics of a question-and-answer session (doorstop) with a number of media crews and representatives of other institutions concerning the corruption and money laundering case involving former JAM-Pidsus Febrie Adriansyah. According to him, his remarks were a spontaneous response during a lively discussion, not an intention to insult.
He emphasised that the remarks were directed at an individual in the context of a personal dialogue, and therefore fell under complaint-based offences (delik aduan) rather than press offences.
“When I said ‘do you understand or not’, who does ‘you’ refer to? An individual. I never attacked the press as an institution. And it wasn’t a press conference, it was a doorstop,” Hotman stressed.
Furthermore, Hotman said the person who was speaking with him at the time never introduced himself as a member of the media from the outset. Following the interaction, it emerged that the person was from a non-governmental organisation (LSM).
Hotman emphasised that he respects the journalism profession and press institutions, and denied accusations that he insulted a journalists’ organisation.
“Because when I said ‘you’, it means an individual. And the Press Council was never invited there because it was a doorstop. Right? We never knew, and it’s not certain that the person was a member. Because it was an NGO that filed the complaint. So why did I say ‘you’? I explained repeatedly and he didn’t understand. The response should have been ‘why don’t you understand?’ Instead I answered ‘do you have a brain?’ It was a question because he genuinely refused to understand,” he said.