The Dog Is Surrounded By The Red And White Flag, Hotman Paris: Hello, Kapolda, Where Is The Crime?

Hotman Paris (Ivan Two Men/VOI)

JAKARTA - The famous lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea spoke up regarding the Robert Herry Son (22) case, the Deputy Head of Administration for the Palm Oil Factory (PKS) of PT Sawit Agung Sejahtera (SAS) which went viral due to overflowing the red and white flag around the dog's neck and has now been named a suspect. Hotman Paris questioned the criminal element in the case.

"Hello, Kapolda and Kapolres who oversee Bengkalis, Riau. A man was named a suspect for wrapping a flag around the dog's neck. The question is, where is the criminal element?" Hotman Paris said in a video uploaded to the Instagram account @hotmanparisofficial, Sunday 13 August.

According to Hotman Paris, the habit of draping the Red and White flag around the neck of animals is common, especially in commemoration of August 17.

"Look at the decades of celebrating independence, where the buffalo or horse racing competition, the flags are tied on a horse or buffalo train, it is not wrapped in a buffalo or horse body, but where is the difference? The Indonesian flag is wrapped around the horse train wood, the buffalo train, where is the punishment?"

The parlente lawyer also questioned whether because it was held around the dog's neck, it was considered a crime.

"It's not a crime so far, it's a habit. Where is the criminal element, what if it's attached not to the dog's neck?"

Hotman Paris also uploaded a photo containing Article 66 of Law Number 24 of 2009 concerning the Flag, Language, and Emblem of the State and the National Anthem. The article reads:

"Every person who destroys, rips, trampled, burns, or commits any other act with the intention of tarnishing, insulting or degrading, the honor of the state flag as referred to in Article 24 letter a shall be sentenced to a maximum imprisonment of 5 years or a maximum fine of IDR 500,000,000 (five hundred million rupiah)."

Hotman also offered the perpetrator or the perpetrator's family to contact the 911 Hotman team for further legal consultation.

Previously, it went viral on social media for a dog to be covered with a red and white flag around his neck. The incident occurred in the courtyard of the PKS office last Thursday. A witness who is also a PKS employee of PT SAS saw the dog had a Red and White flag around his neck, then found out who was responsible for the action.

Employees and several witnesses were not happy with the incident, so they reported the perpetrator to the Pinggir Police office for further action. On Friday, the suspect surrendered and then underwent examination.

After the investigation process, the suspect was finally arrested. Head of Criminal Investigation Unit of Bengkalis Police, AKP Firman Fadhilah said the suspect's actions had violated Article 66 of the State Law Number 24 of 2009 concerning the Flag, Language, and State Emblem and National Anthem.

"He said that this country is a democracy, let alone the dog is independent," said AKP Firman Fadhilah, quoted from ANTARA.

Robert Herry Son has also apologized to the Indonesian people for his actions in placing the flag on the dog's neck. For his actions, Robert Herry Son has also been fired from PT Sawit Agung Sejahtera (SAS) Muara Basung.