Suspected Propaganda in Amsal Sitepu Case, DPR Commission III Summons Karo District Prosecutor's Office and Prosecutorial Commission

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Chair of DPR RI Commission III, Habiburokhman, stated that his side will summon the Karo District Prosecutor’s Office along with the public prosecutors and the Prosecutorial Commission, regarding allegations of propaganda in the handling of the videographer Amsal Sitepu’s case.

Habiburokhman explained that the propaganda relates to suspected steering of public opinion concerning the request for detention suspension by Commission III, which was accused of not following procedure.

“There is a narrative built by the Prosecutor’s Office there, by the Karo District Prosecutor’s Office, which is indeed misleading. Among them is regarding the detention suspension. The detention suspension is a request from Commission III—request, mind you—in language, which was granted by the judge. A court product, granted by the court,” said Habiburokhman during a press conference at the DPR RI Building on Wednesday (1/4/2026).

“It should be, when granted, Amsal here shouldn’t return to the prison (detention centre) again. He should have been released right then. But our colleague Mr Hinca Panjaitan had to wait several hours, waiting for the prosecutor from the Karo District Prosecutor’s Office to come and sign the documents, and they created propaganda as if we violated the procedure, when in fact they are the ones who went far beyond the substantive procedure,” he said.

At the same time, DPR RI Commission III is also pushing the Prosecutorial Commission to evaluate the prosecutors handling Amsal’s case.

“We will summon the Karo District Prosecutor’s Office along with their public prosecutors tomorrow (Thursday, 2 April 2026), and we will also invite the Prosecutorial Commission to conduct an evaluation of such matters,” he said.

The Gerindra politician emphasised that the summons of the Karo District Prosecutor’s Office and the Prosecutorial Commission is also to test the allegations of efforts to steer public opinion.

“So we will summon, we will hear what their reasons are if indeed they are the ones doing the propaganda, steering statements as if the people’s aspirations are wrong, and as if we are intervening. We will check tomorrow here what it’s like,” he stated.

“Its stance is 180 degrees opposite to the prosecutorial leadership. Mr Attorney General, Mr Deputy Attorney General for General Crimes, Mr Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes, Mr Deputy Attorney General for Supervision, Mr Deputy Attorney General for Intelligence, all of them always give very positive responses to input from the DPR based on the people’s aspirations,” he said.

“But at the lower level, we want to see what the evaluation is like, especially at the Karo District Prosecutor’s Office. We are very disappointed. We are ready to be accountable for what we have carried out in the past few days regarding Amsal Sitepu. We are ready,” he concluded.

Previously reported, the Medan District Court panel of judges issued a not guilty verdict for Amsal Sitepu in the alleged corruption case of producing village profile videos in Karo Regency, on Wednesday (1/4/2026).

The Chief Judge of the Panel, Mohammad Yusafrihardi Girsang, stated that Amsal was not proven guilty, either in the primary or subsidiary charges.