Demanded 6 Months In Prison, PPLN Member Kuala Lumpur Asks To Be Released From Sentence

The trial of reading the memorandum of defense or plea of seven inactive members of the Kuala Lumpur Foreign Election Committee (PPLN) at the Central Jakarta District Court, Wednesday (20/03/2024). ANTARA/Agatha Olivia Victoria

The attorneys for the seven inactive members of the Kuala Lumpur Foreign Election Committee (PPLN) asked the defendants in the alleged case of falsification of data and a list of voters for the 2024 General Election in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to be acquitted of charges and demands.

"We ask the panel of judges to release the defendant from the indictment or at least release all lawsuits," said the attorney for the defendant four Aprijon, Emil Salim in a hearing reading the memorandum of defense or plea at the Central Jakarta District Court as reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, March 20.

Emil said the defendants were not legally and convincingly proven guilty of committing a criminal act or had intentionally committed a legal act in the form of falsifying data and voter lists, either ordering or participating in the act, as charged in the first indictment of the public prosecutor's indictment.

Emil's request was followed by the attorneys for the defendants one, three, five, and six, the defendant's attorney two, and the defendant's attorney seven.

The names of the defendants were one to seven, namely PPLN Chairman Kuala Lumpur Umar Faruk, PPLN Member Kuala Lumpur Finance Division Tita Octavia Cahya Rahayu, PPLN Member Kuala Lumpur Data and Information Division Dicky Saputra, and PPLN Member Kuala Lumpur Division HR Aprijon.

Then, Member of PPLN Kuala Lumpur, Socialization Division Puji Sumarsono, Member of PPLN Kuala Lumpur, Technical Division of Election A. Khalil, and Member of PPLN Kuala Lumpur, Masduki Khamdan Muchamad Logistics Division.

In addition to asking the defendants to be released, the attorneys also asked the panel of judges to rehabilitate the good names of the defendants and charge the court fees to the state.

If the legal assembly argues otherwise, Emil asks for the judge's decision as fairly as possible with considerations, including Aprijon who is a lecturer who is currently studying doctoral education at a Malaysian university, has a wife who is pregnant, has never been convicted, and has been kind and cooperative during the trial.

Meanwhile, the attorney for the seven Masduki defendants, Akbar Hidayatullah, asked the panel of judges to give their client a light decision considering that Masduki has the dependents of his wife and daughter who are only 1 year old.

Seven inactive members of the Kuala Lumpur PPLN Committee were sentenced to 6 months in prison and a fine of Rp. 10 million, subsidiary to 3 months imprisonment in cases of alleged falsification of data and a list of voters for the 2024 General Election in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The defendants were one to six sentenced to 6 months in prison, provided that they did not need to be detained if they did not repeat their actions or committed other crimes for one year after the decision had permanent legal force or inkrah.

Meanwhile, specifically for the seven defendants, they were sentenced to 6 months in prison with an order to detain the detention center.

In that case, seven inactive members of PPLN Kuala Lumpur were charged with falsifying data and lists of foreign voters for the 2024 General Election in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The prosecutors believed the defendants entered incorrect and invalid data because it did not match the results of the matching and research (coclit) into the Temporary Voter Data (DPS), became a DPS Improved Results (DPSHP), and was later determined to be a Permanent Voter List (DPT).

The defendants are also said to have moved the list of voters for the Voting Place (TPS) method to the Mobile Voice Box (KSK) and Post methods in data conditions and unknown or incomplete voter addresses.