PSI Rejects Articles Of Insulting President And DPR, Tsamara: Injuring Democracy

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) rejects the inclusion of offenses against the President and the House of Representatives (DPR) in the Draft Criminal Code Bill (RUU KUHP).

According to PSI DPP Chair Tsamara Amany, this article has the potential to become a rubber article, which can hinder healthy public discourse.

"The article on insulting the President and the DPR in the Criminal Code Bill violates the essence of democracy, namely freedom of opinion," said Tsamara in a statement, Wednesday, June 9.

In addition, he continued, the reason PSI rejected the article was because it did not see the relevance of the article being applied in the democratic era. If Indonesia implements the regulation, said Tsamara, it would represent decades of setbacks.

"In the context of the article on insulting the President, Pak Jokowi has always been slandered, but he always answered with work," he said.

Reflecting on the president's attitude, the New York University Master's Degree student assessed that criticism should be returned with work, not the threat of imprisonment.

"That is also what the DPR should do. If someone criticizes the DPR, show it by improving performance," he said.

Therefore, Tsamara reminded the DPR to review and delete these articles from the Draft Criminal Code.

It is known that the article on insulting the president and vice president re-emerged in the latest draft of the Criminal Code Bill.

The insult to the president and vice president is punishable by a maximum of 3.5 years in prison. If the insult is carried out via social media or electronic means, the threat is 4.5 years in prison.

Meanwhile, those who insult state institutions, such as the DPR, can be subject to a maximum imprisonment of 2 years in prison.