Polemic On Articles Of Insult To The President In The RKUHP, Kemenkum HAM: Those Who Are Convicted When Attacking Dignity And Dignity

Acting Director General of PP of the Ministry of Law and Security (Kemenkum HAM) Dhahana Putra in a discussion at the DPR building / PHOTO: Wardhany Tsa Tsia-VOI

JAKARTA - Acting Director General of PP of the Ministry of Law and Security (Kemenkum HAM) Dhahana Putra said the application of the article on insulting the president in the Draft Criminal Code (RKUHP) would not target those who gave criticism. Only those who attack the dignity and status will be sentenced to criminal penalties.

This was conveyed by Dhahana in response to the many polemics in the community regarding Article 218 of the RKUHP regarding attacking the dignity of the president and vice president.

"When we talk about the RKUHP, the person who can be punished is when he attacks his dignity. An example is 'this president's status is unclear, his family is not clear'. Anyway, it attacks his dignity," said Dhahana in a discussion held at the DPR building, Senayan. , Central Jakarta, Tuesday, June 7th.

Dhahana emphasized that it is important to include the regulation on attacking the dignity of the president and his deputy in the RKUHP. "Never mind the president, if our dignity is attacked, we will be angry," he said.

"Moreover, the president is elected by all Indonesians. Right now there are 265 million people, maybe half of them have the right to vote. So you can imagine in a context like this we need that article," added Dhahana.

Even so, he stressed that the public can still criticize the president. Moreover, if there are programs that are not running.

"If it is a criticism, the president is not good in terms of the program, the president is not able to carry out his program, that is only criticism. But if you attack his dignity, he can be punished," he said.

Regarding this polemic, the Deputy Minister of Law and Human Rights (Wamenkumham) Edward Omar Sharif Hiariej or Eddy has also explained it. In a hearing with Commission III of the DPR RI on Wednesday, May 25, he explained that Article 218 of the RKUHP is a complaint offense.

"Regarding the attack on the dignity and worth of the president and vice president. We explained that this is a change from a criminal offense, from an ordinary offense to a complaint offense," said Eddy at the time.

Eddy also explained that this article did not revive articles that had been abolished by the Constitutional Court (MK).

Through decision Number 013-022/PUU-IV/2006, the Constitutional Court has canceled articles on insulting the president and vice president in the Criminal Code (KUHP).

"So at all we did not resurrect articles that have been turned off by the Constitutional Court, in fact they are different," he said.

"What the Constitutional Court has turned off is an ordinary offense, while what is in the RKUHP is a complaint offense," Edy added at the time.

For information, in the discussion of the RKUHP in 2021, the article on insulting the president and vice president was contained in Articles 218 to 220 of the latest RKUHP. Insulting the president and vice president is punishable by a maximum of 3.5 years in prison.

If the insult is carried out through 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 sentenced to a maximum of 2 years in prison