Toraja Traditional Council Hearing to be Considered by Police in Pandji Case

The Indonesian National Police’s Criminal Investigation Unit (Bareskrim) will consider the outcome of a traditional Toraja council hearing involving comedian Pandji Pragiwaksono, who was reported for allegedly insulting the Toraja community through his stand-up comedy.

Brigadier General Himawan Bayu Aji, Director of Cyber Crime at Bareskrim Polri, stated that investigators will take this into account alongside the application of ‘living law’ (customary law) and national criminal law.

“All of these steps are concrete measures in line with living law. Then, with national law in place, this is what we are doing in the investigation simultaneously,” he said to reporters on Thursday (26/2).

Therefore, Himawan said that the traditional court process that Pandji has undergone will be used as material for consideration in determining whether he can be charged as a suspect or not.

“So, we will look at the final outcome after further examinations following his traditional court hearing in Toraja. We will then assess what elements could potentially constitute a crime, and we will conclude this in a case review meeting,” he said.

He added that it is possible that investigators will also examine Toraja community leaders who conducted the traditional court against Pandji as part of the case review.

“If this is needed in the investigation, we will conduct examinations on several parties who are needed in the investigation process,” he concluded.

Previously, the Toraja Youth Alliance reported comedian Pandji Pragiwaksono to Bareskrim Polri regarding alleged insults and/or hate speech containing SARA (ethnic, religious, racial, and inter-group) elements against the Toraja community.

Pandji was later given traditional sanctions in the form of being required to apologize to his ancestors and pay for one pig and five chickens. This sanction was given during the traditional court process at Tongkonan Layuk Kaero, Sangalla, Tana Toraja, on Tuesday (10/2).

Pandji accepted the decision gracefully and apologized to the Toraja community. He promised to improve himself in the future and not repeat similar mistakes.