Bawaslu: The AMIN Billboard Destruction Case In Yogyakarta Is Not A Election Crime

ILLUSTRATION BETWEEN

YOGYAKARTA - The Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) of Yogyakarta City stated that the case of the destruction of the presidential and vice presidential billboards number 1 Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar (AMIN) in the local area did not fulfill the elements of general election crimes.

"We have not been able to enter into the element of election crime, so yesterday we conveyed to the reporter that it cannot be followed up in Gakkumdu (integrated law enforcement)," said Head of the Yogyakarta City Bawaslu Andie Kartala as reported by ANTARA, Thursday, January 4.

The conclusion, said Andie, was based on the results of a legal study at the internal Bawaslu of Yogyakarta City on reports of alleged election crimes related to the destruction of campaign props (APK) in the form of billboards for the AMIN candidate pair in the city of Yogyakarta.

Andie said Article 280 of Election Law number 7 of 2017 states that parties who can be charged with election crimes related to the destruction of the APK include three elements, namely the executor, election participants, and the campaign team.

Meanwhile, in the case of destroying AMIN billboards in the city of Yogyakarta, according to him, an alleged perpetrator of the damage reported was not included in the three elements, so he did not meet the material requirements.

"If then the perpetrators are not in category three, we cannot ensnare them," he said.

He admitted that it was difficult to take action when the destruction was carried out by the general public who were not part of the party management, campaign team, or were not members of the volunteer team registered with the KPU.

"This is what becomes difficult because the regulations are like that. If we hit the regulations, we would be wrong," said Andie.

For that reason, the case of destroying the APK cannot be followed up at the Integrated Law Enforcement Center (Gakkumdu) consisting of the Yogyakarta City Bawaslu, the police, and the local prosecutor's office.

"If the legal study cannot be included (the element of election crime), it only stops being studied, it cannot be processed in Gakkumdu," said Andie.

He assessed that the case of destroying the APK could be reported to the police if it was considered that there was an element of general crime.

"Maybe it can, but usually later in the police, because the APK is usually used to throw it at Gakkumdu," he said.

Previously, a video showing the destruction of the APK in the form of billboards from the presidential and vice presidential candidate pair number 1 Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar (AMIN) went viral on social media X.

In the 25-second video uploaded to the X @teguhsd account, a man can be seen destroying the APB of presidential and vice presidential candidates number 1 by way of breaking it.

According to the information in the upload, the incident took place on Tuesday (26/12) at 08.15 WIB in Gapura Suronatan, Jalan Agus Salim, Yogyakarta City.