Highlighting Habib Bahar And Ferdinand Hutahean's Case, Gerindra: Evidence That The Indonesian Nation Is Still Divided

JAKARTA - Deputy Chairperson of the Gerindra Party DPP Habiburokhman highlighted the cases that befell Habib Bahar Bin Smith and Ferdinand Hutahaean. Both were reported on suspicion of hate speech and blasphemy.

According to the spokesman for the Gerindra Party, the cases of Habib Bahar and Ferdinand are proof that the Indonesian nation is still divided.

"Currently, we seem to be divided again regarding two cases of alleged hate speech that are very interesting," Habiburokhman told reporters, Monday, January 10.

This member of Commission III of the DPR then explained the two cases. Bahar bin Smith was investigated, and detained by law enforcement officials for his statements while preaching. Habiburokhman said, some people defended him and stated that what he did was purely part of expressing opinions and criticizing. It is also a part of democracy that should not be punished.

"Others asked the authorities to take firm action by arresting and detaining him on the grounds that such actions constitute dangerous hate speech," he explained.

Not long after, Ferdinand Hutahaean was reported to be related to the statement 'Your God is weak' on Twitter. Some people also defended him, stating that what was conveyed was part of freedom of expression which, although inappropriate, did not have to be dealt with by reporting to the police.

"But others have asked the authorities to take firm action by arresting and detaining him. The reason is that this act is a dangerous hate speech," he added.

Even so, Habiburokhman was reluctant to compare the two people's personalities. What is clear, he said, both illustrate that the tension between the two groups of the nation's children caused by the 2019 presidential election is still not over. This, he said, led to the emergence of legal cases and the phenomenon of mutual reporting related to hate speech.

"I do not compare the personal figures of these two Indonesian citizens, but the two cases illustrate that the tensions between the two major groups of the nation's children have not yet ended, which ultimately has an impact on the emergence of legal cases, the phenomenon of reporting to each other related to hate speech," the legislator of the East Jakarta electoral district said. this. Habib assesses that every day for the past few years, the Indonesian people have often been caught up in debates about cases of alleged hate speech as above.

"The cases and the people may be different, but the substance of our feud remains the same. If the perpetrators are friends, of course, they will be defended to the death, but if the opponent wants them to be imprisoned, of course," he said.

"Every day we change roles, sometimes asking people to be free to speak, the next day asking someone else to be imprisoned. How long are we going to be like this? How much time, energy, money have we drained?" continued him.

The Deputy Chairperson of the DPR MKD assessed that social media has indeed made it easy for the Indonesian people to express opinions in public spaces. Even spontaneous statements, he said, could quickly spread in a matter of minutes or even seconds. "Sometimes what you want to convey is not entirely the same as what is written," he said.

Sometimes, he added, what was written was interpreted differently by the people who witnessed it. This makes it easy for anyone to get entangled in a legal case of alleged hate speech.