Supreme Court on Hendra Lie Cassation Files: May Be Returned If Formal Requirements Not Met
Jakarta — Supreme Court Justice and spokesperson Kanjeng Pangeran Yanto has stated that if the cassation application files submitted by both the public prosecutor and the defendant in the Fredie Tan defamation case involving defendant Hendra Lie do not meet formal requirements, they will be returned.
“If upon review they are found not to meet the formal requirements due to a change in legislation, the cassation application files will be returned even without a request to do so,” he told reporters on Friday, 20 February 2026.
Conversely, he said, if upon review the files are found to meet the formal requirements, the cassation process will proceed.
He was asked to comment on the move by Hendra Lie (73), the defendant in case No. 257/Pid.Sus/2025/PTDKI Jakarta jo No. 457/Pid.Sus/2025/PN.Jkt.Ut, to file a petition for the return of the cassation application files to the Supreme Court on the grounds that they do not meet the formal requirements under Article 299 of the new Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP), namely Law No. 20 of 2025, read in conjunction with Supreme Court Circular Letter (SEMA) No. 7 of 2005.
In October 2025, Hendra Lie was sentenced to 10 months’ imprisonment by the North Jakarta District Court. The head of Mata Elang Production was charged under Article 45A paragraph (2) in conjunction with Article 28 paragraph (2) of Law No. 19 of 2016 on Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE), which carries a maximum sentence of below five years’ imprisonment.
Hendra Lie subsequently appealed to the DKI Jakarta High Court, which reduced his sentence to six months’ imprisonment with a one-year probationary period.
Under the provisions of Article 299 of the new Criminal Procedure Code, criminal offences carrying a maximum sentence of below five years cannot be subject to cassation appeals.
On that basis, on 6 February 2026 Hendra Lie filed a petition with the Supreme Court requesting that the cassation application files submitted by both the public prosecutor and himself be returned to the North Jakarta District Court.
Hendra Lie was charged in a defamation case reported by Fredie Tan. The case relates to a podcast on the Kanal Anak Bangsa channel entitled “Alleged Potential State Losses of Billions of Rupiah at Ancol — Is Budi Karya Involved?”, which aired on 20 November 2022.
Hendra Lie is a whistleblower who sought to expose alleged corruption at a regional government-owned enterprise (BUMD) belonging to the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government, with losses to regional finances allegedly amounting to tens of trillions of rupiah.