NTB Police Immediately Reveal Uploader Of Ustaz Mizan's Video Footage

Head of Public Relations of the NTB Police, Kombes Artanto/ANTARA

JAKARTA - The West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Regional Police confirmed that the role of the first person, who uploaded video footage of the suspect Ustaz Mizan Qudsiah regarding the alleged discrediting of sacred ancestral tombs on the island of Lombok, would be revealed.

Head of Public Relations of the NTB Police, Kombes Pol. Artanto in Mataram, said this was based on the police's commitment in handling cases that had caused a stir in the community.

"What is certain is that step by step, we will solve one by one, because everything is interrelated," said Artanto.

The link between uploading the 19-second video clip will run with the process of handling the case of Ustaz Mizan as a suspect in hate speech, he said.

"Yes, so for Article 27 Paragraph 3 of the ITE Law (Electronic Information and Transactions), regarding the distribution or transmitting of electronic documents, this continues to go hand in hand with other cases, including the issue of destruction which is handled by the criminal code (general crime)," he explained.

The temporary progress of disclosing the role of uploading the video footage is still ongoing at the investigation stage of the Cyber Team of the Special Criminal Investigation Directorate (Ditreskrimsus) of the NTB Police, Artanto added.

The NTB Regional Police collaborated with a number of experts, both from the field of criminal law academics and institutions in the field of language and ITE, to review the short 19-second video.

"So for this case (the video uploader) is still at the investigation stage," he said.

Meanwhile, in the case of alleged hate speech, Mizan as a suspect is suspected of Article 14 Paragraph 1.2 and Article 15 of Law Number 1 of 1946 concerning the Criminal Law Regulations.

The allegation is related to the spread of fake news that causes trouble in the community, with the most severe criminal threat contained in paragraph 1 in article 14 with a sentence of 10 years in prison.

In addition, Mizan is also subject to Article 28 Paragraph 2 Juncto Article 45 Paragraph 2 of Law Number 19 of 2016 concerning amendments to Law Number 11 of 2008 concerning ITE.

Regarding the investigation of the case of the first uploader of the video footage, it relates to the criminal threat in Article 27 Paragraph 3 of the ITE Law.

The regulation explains the intentional and unlawful act of distributing and/or transmitting electronic documents containing insults and/or defamation.

The criminal threat in that article has also been regulated in Article 45 Paragraph 1 of the ITE Law with a maximum sentence of six years in prison and a fine of Rp. 1 billion.

Previously, the Director of Special Criminal Investigation (Dirreskrimsus) of the NTB Police, Senior Commissioner of Police I Gusti Putu Gede Ekawana, said that the cyber team of the NTB Police had found the account that uploaded the video clip on Facebook for the first time.

The identification of the account was carried out through a search using the police's digital forensic system network.

The cyber team also saw a resemblance to the uploaded video on YouTube, which lasted 1 hour 2 minutes 59 seconds, in the form of a recitation forum event hosted by Mizan Qudsiah as a preacher.

Ekawana said that Ustaz Mizan's lecture had been going on for a long time, namely on November 13, 2020.