IDNEWSNOW.COM, Jakarta – The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation’s (YLBHI) Head of Advocacy Division, M. Isnur, hoped that the House of Representatives (DPR) would immediately respond to President Jokowi’s letter regarding the amnesty for a lecturer at Syiah Kuala University in Banda Aceh, Saiful Mahdi.
“The DPR must not be an obstacle for citizens to get justice,” Isnur told Tempo on Thursday, October 7.
He also demanded the president’s letter be approved in today’s plenary session. “It (the approval) must not be delayed, let alone the DPR is going to recess,” he added. The recess period starts from October 8 to 31, 2021.
Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud Md previously claimed the government had finished processing the amnesty request and sent the letter on September 29. As stipulated in Article (2) of the 1945 Constitution, the President must first listen to the DPR before granting an amnesty.
Saiful is imprisoned for criticizing the university’s hiring process of the candidates of civil servants at Syiah Kuala University through a Whatsapp group named Unsyiah Kita, which consists of the university lecturers in March 2019.
Saiful Mahdi was later reported to the police on charges of defamation under the ITE Law. The Banda Aceh District Court sentenced him to three months in prison and a fine of Rp10 million that is subsidiary to one month in prison after going through 18 trials. His appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court.
Read: Saiful Mahdi Imprisonment Garners International Attention
FRISKI RIANA
