Total of Four Prosecutors Examined in Amsal Sitepu Case, Including Karo District Head Prosecutor
The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) states that a total of four prosecutors are currently being examined in the aftermath of the alleged corruption case concerning village profile video budgets by videographer Amsal Sitepu.
Head of the AGO’s Legal Information Centre, Anang Supriatna, identifies the four prosecutors as the Karo District Head Prosecutor, Danke Rajagukguk; the Head of Special Crimes Section at the Karo District Prosecutor’s Office, Reinhard Harve Sembiring; and two Sub-Section Heads at the Karo District Prosecutor’s Office.
“The Karo District Head Prosecutor, the Head of Special Crimes, and the two Sub-Section Heads handling the case have been secured and withdrawn by the Attorney General’s Office intelligence team,” he told reporters on Monday (6/4).
Anang explains that through these examinations, the supervisory team is probing allegations of procedural violations committed by the Karo District Prosecutor’s Office personnel from the investigation phase through to prosecution.
“Overall handling. From the beginning to the end, including not only the initial investigation but also the prosecution process up to now,” he states.
He elaborates that this withdrawal is intended to allow the examination process to proceed objectively, in line with directives from Attorney General Sanitiar Burhanudin.
“So at that time, examinations were also being conducted at the North Sumatra Provincial Prosecutor’s Office, but we took over directly with the AGO team to ensure greater objectivity,” he says.
Furthermore, he emphasises that the office is taking the clarification of the Karo District Prosecutor’s Office personnel seriously.
According to Anang, if violations are found, the case will be referred to the supervisory team and the examination team under the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes.
“We will assess how the legal process against Amsal Sitepu was conducted—whether it complied with regulations and was professional. If there are violations, there will naturally be internal ethical sanctions,” he clarifies.
Previously, the Medan District Court panel of judges acquitted the defendant Amsal Christy Sitepu during the verdict reading on Wednesday, 1 April 2025.
The verdict in this case, which has recently captured public attention, was read by presiding judge M. Yusafrihardi Girsang. According to the judge, Amsal was not proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of committing the criminal offence as charged by the prosecutor, either in the primary or subsidiary charges.
In its decision, the court acquitted the defendant of all charges. Additionally, the judge ordered the restoration of the defendant’s rights, including his honour and dignity.
“Ruling: declares the defendant Amsal not proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the acts as per the primary and subsidiary charges by the public prosecutor,” the judge stated while reading the decision at the Medan District Court on Wednesday (1/4).
The judge stated that there was no material evidence of the defendant’s actions classified as unlawful as alleged by the prosecutor.
Prosecutors assessed that the proposal submitted by Amsal to the village heads was not properly compiled and tended to be marked up. Furthermore, the execution of the work was deemed not in accordance with the Bill of Quantities (RAB).
Each video project was reportedly priced at Rp30 million per village. According to the prosecutors, costs for ideation through editing and dubbing of the village profile videos were not charged.