Evidence that no party is above the law, Rocky Gerung deserves strict action
By: Tyas Permata Wiyana )*
As clear evidence that there is absolutely no party that is immune to the laws that have been in force and agreed upon in the Republic of Indonesia (RI), Rocky Gerung deserves to be dealt with very strictly by law enforcement officials, which is the result from how he said it to the Head of State and his efforts to continue to incite the public.
A number of parties have reported Rocky Gerung to the Indonesian National Police (Polri) for alleged criminal acts of hate speech and also the spread of fake news or hoaxes related to the President of the Republic of Indonesia (RI), Joko Widodo (Jokowi).
Not only did it come from the public, but the reporting was also carried out by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) as the political party (party) supporting the Head of State who also took part in policing the political observer with the same case.
It is known that the report from them has now been received by the police and has been registered with the Number: LP/B/217/VIII/2023/SPKT/ Polri Investigation and Criminal Agency (Bareskrim) on 2 August 2023. Regarding this report, Representative The Legal Aid and People’s Advocacy Agency (BBHAR) Team for the PDI Perjuangan Central Executive Board (DPP), Johannes Oberlin L. Tobing said that in the report they alleged to Rocky Gerung they used Article 28 Paragraph 2 of Law (UU) Number 19 of 2016 regarding Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE).
Rocky was also reported using other provisions, namely in Article 15 of Law (UU) Number 1 of 1946. Before applying to use these two articles, discussions had been carried out between the PDI Perjuangan attorneys and investigators, which in the end investigators have agreed to use Law no. 19/2016 Article 28 Paragraph 2 concerning SARA and ITE.
With the existence of reports from a number of parties to Rocky, it doesn’t just come without a clear reason. The PDI Perjuangan attorneys acknowledged that President Joko Widodo himself was part of the PDIP cadres. Meanwhile, the legal division also felt that there was indeed something wrong in the case involving Rocky Gerung’s name. Therefore, they immediately proved that absolutely no subject can be above the law in Indonesia by carrying out legal processing of the academic as soon as possible.
The underlying reason why Rocky’s case was brought to court by many parties. This is because he has expressed several statements which are considered as a form of hate speech which is not pleasant at all and at the same time spreading fake news or hoaxes.
The first thing that was highlighted by PDI Perjuangan regarding Rocky Gerung’s statement in the public space and also the digital space was about how he said that it seemed as if President Jokowi was trying to postpone the process of implementing a democratic party and political contestation, the General Election (Pemilu). in the next 2024.
Then, the second statement that was made by Rocky was that he had invited or provoked the wider community to carry out a people power movement on August 10, 2023. Next is related to the statement from the former University of Indonesia (UI) lecturer who had mentioned the Head of State with a completely inappropriate expression, namely ‘Bastard and Stupid’ and seemed to have personal ambitions behind the development project of the National Capital City (IKN). ) Archipelago.
All the narrations that have come from Rocky Gerung’s mouth have all been studied by a team of attorneys from the PDI Perjuangan. After carrying out the study, they later found and suspected that indeed in that case, the political observer had committed an unlawful act.
Meanwhile, Presidential Chief of Staff (KSP) Moeldoko also spoke out regarding the polemic over the statement made by the former philosophy lecturer, which was indeed alleged to have insulted President Joko Widodo.
Moeldoko considered that the actions of Rocky Gerung could no longer be tolerated. Therefore, he then asked all law enforcement security forces to be able to take a very firm step in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations and absolutely not let this case go unpunished.
Indeed, it is very appropriate and proper that all things done by every citizen have consequences and are able to be accounted for before the law. Moreover, when a public figure like Rocky Gerung then uttered many inappropriate words that insulted and demeaned the Head of State in the public space and in the digital space. The existence of reports from many parties who at the same time demand that law enforcement officials take firm action against political observers is proof that in the Republic of Indonesia (RI) there are absolutely no subjects who are immune from the law.
)* The author is a contributor to Persada institute