Mahfud MD: President Agrees To Grant Amnesty To Saiful Mahdi, The Process Is Now In DPR

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD/PHOTO DOC VOI

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menko Polhukam) Mahfud MD said President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) had approved granting amnesty to Saiful Mahdi, a lecturer at Syiah Kuala University (Unsyiah) Banda Aceh.

The granting of this amnesty, he said, was due to the quick work of Saiful's attorney until the request was finally submitted to President Jokowi on September 24.

"After my dialogue with Saiful Mahdi's wife and his lawyers on September 21, the next day I had a meeting with the leadership of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights and the leadership of the Attorney General's Office and I said we would propose to the President to grant amnesty to Saiful Mahdi," Mahfud said in his video statement to reporters, Tuesday, October 5th.

"Then on September 24 I reported to the President and the President agreed to grant amnesty," added the former Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court (MK).

Furthermore, Mahfud said the President sent a letter to the Indonesian House of Representatives on September 29 to ask for the agency's consideration. This needs to be done because it is in accordance with Article 14 Paragraph 2 of the 1945 Constitution.

"Now we just have to wait for the response from the DPR because the letter must be discussed first by Bamus and then read in front of the DPR Plenary Session. So we are waiting for that. What is certain, from the government side, the process has been completed," he said.

This fast work of the government, continued Mahfud, is a tangible form of the government's commitment to carry out restorative justice.

"And this is a case of only criticizing and criticizing the faculty, not personally. Because of that, I think it deserves an amnesty, that's why we fight for it," he said.

Previously, Saiful Mahdi, who is a lecturer at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences Unsyiah, was found guilty of committing a criminal act intentionally and without the right to transfer defamation charges regarding the results of the CPNS test in the campus environment.

"Innalillahiwainnailaihirajiun. Got the sad news of the death of common sense in the ranks of FT Unsyiah's leadership during the civil servant test yesterday. Evidence of technical determinism is very easy to corrupt? Gong Xi Fat Cai!!! Why is there a faculty that has triumphed and then crumbles? Why is there such a proud new faculty? Because meritocracy applies since recruitment is only for mediocre or those who are in debt who are afraid of meritocracy," said Saiful in the Unsyiah KITA WhatsApp group in March 2019.

As a result of his writing, Saiful Mahfdi then had to receive a three-month prison sentence for violating the ITE Law. He was required to carry out detention at the Banda Aceh Class IIA Prison in Lambaro, Aceh Besar.