JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Legal, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, emphasized that the acquittal of the Executive Director of the Lokataru Foundation, Delpedro Marhaen, and his colleagues was final. This decision marked the end of the legal process without any room for further legal efforts.
"It's over here. It can't be appealed again and no legal action can be taken," said Coordinating Minister Yusril in his official statement in Jakarta, Saturday (7/3).
Legal Certainty in the New Criminal Procedure Code
Coordinating Minister Yusril explained that referring to Article 299 of the New Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP), the public prosecutor does not have the space to file a legal action on a free verdict (vrijspraak) or a release verdict (ontslag). This includes a ban on cassation to the Supreme Court (MA).
He underlined that in practice in the past, there was often a dualism of interpretation between "pure free" and "non-pure free" which often triggered legal uncertainty. "Such practices create chaos in law enforcement. In the latest rules, this limitation is emphasized to provide certainty," he added.
Fact of Trial and Restoration of Rights
Besides Delpedro, the other three defendants who were also sentenced to acquittal were:
Muzaffar Salim (Lokataru Staff)
Syahdan Husein (Admin Gejayan Memanggil)
Khariq Anhar (Admin Aliansi Mahasiswa Penggugat)
The panel of judges stated that the four of them were not proven to have committed the crime of instigation in the August 2025 demonstration. During the trial, the prosecutor was judged to have failed to present evidence of manipulation, fabrication, or fact engineering as alleged by the defendants.
Based on the verdict, the judge ordered the public prosecutor to immediately restore all the rights of the defendants, including their ability, position, and dignity.
Background of the Case
Previously, the prosecutor had charged the four activists with a sentence of 2 years in prison. They were accused of uploading social media content that was considered to incite students to commit anarchist acts in an action in front of the Indonesian House of Representatives and the Metro Jaya Police at the end of August 2025.
One of the evidence that had been questioned was a poster titled "Legal assistance for students who took to the streets". However, the court assessed that the content did not meet the elements of incitement as charged, so the defendants were declared purely free.
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