While Sobbing, Amsal Sitepu Claims He is Just a Creative Worker Seeking Justice
Videographer Amsal Christy Sitepu recounted his struggle as a creative economy worker that ended behind bars. During a public hearing at Commission III of the House of Representatives on Monday (30/3/2026), Amsal detailed the chronology of the alleged corruption case involving the production of village profile videos, which he considers an injustice to creative workers.
Amsal began his story by recalling the difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019. As the owner of a production house usually handling wedding projects and music videos, he lost his livelihood due to the pandemic.
“At that time, the creative industry was completely dead. I created a proposal for village profile videos purely to survive with my team, as well as out of my love for the local wisdom of my birthplace, Karo Regency,” said Amsal.
Amsal explained that he offered the Rp30 million proposal directly to village heads without intermediaries. He considered that amount to be cheap.
“My team and I prepared the proposal, and it was actually cheap, sir. Because the main goal was to survive during the pandemic,” he said.
“And secondly, it was my hometown, and previously I was a content creator who often updated and promoted content about local wisdom in Karo Regency, which I uploaded on my social media,” he added.
However, a bitter surprise came on 19 November 2025. After being called as a witness, Amsal was suddenly designated as a suspect. The Inspectorate auditor stated there was a state loss in the project. Amsal found it odd because he claimed he was never examined once by the Inspectorate before being named a suspect.
Amsal also said that during the trial, the chief judge asked the village head who was a witness whether Amsal had offered the video production proposal and the price offered. The village head admitted to agreeing and paying Rp30 million as per the agreement.
“And the judge asked, ‘Then why was he imprisoned?’ The village head replied, ‘I don’t know, Your Honour.’ And until now, I am actually very confused about this situation,” he said.
While holding back tears, Amsal expressed his disappointment with the audit results that undermined the dignity of creative workers. In the Examination Result Report (LHP), several items in the video production were deemed valueless by the auditor and the Public Prosecutor (JPU).
“There was the idea, the idea was valued at Rp2 million in the proposal. Editing Rp1 million, cutting Rp1 million, dubbing Rp1 million, clip-on or microphone Rp900,000, which totalled Rp5.9 million—all considered zero by the auditor and the Public Prosecutor,” he stated.
Amsal admitted that this case would make creative workers afraid to collaborate with the government. He hopes that law enforcement can view this case with conscience and understand that creativity should not be imprisoned based on formal calculations.
“I’m just seeking justice, sir. I’m just an ordinary creative economy worker, sir. I have no authority over the budget, sir. Simply put, I was just selling. If the price was too high, why wasn’t it rejected, or if it wasn’t appropriate, why was it paid? There’s no need to imprison me,” he said.
In this case, Amsal is facing a two-year prison sentence, a fine of Rp50 million, and an obligation to repay state losses of Rp202 million. He is charged under Article 3 in conjunction with Article 18 of Law No. 31 of 1999 as amended by Law No. 20 of 2001 on the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption.
Commission III of the House of Representatives has officially scheduled the public hearing to address the alleged injustice in the village video project corruption case involving videographer Amsal Sitepu in Karo.