TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
'@TrioMacan2000' blackmail trial begins
One missing: Defendants Edi Syahputra (left) and Hari Koeshardjono attend their hearing at the South Jakarta District Court
Change Size
O
span class="inline inline-center">One missing: Defendants Edi Syahputra (left) and Hari Koeshardjono attend their hearing at the South Jakarta District Court. Another defendant in the case, Raden Nuh, refused to appear at the court, saying prosecutors had made an administrative error. JP/Awo
The first hearing of three men known as @TrioMacan2000 on Twitter started on Monday, with only two defendants present at the South Jakarta District Court.
State prosecutors have charged the three ' Edi Syahputra, Hari Koeshardjono and Raden Nuh ' with the Electronic Information and Transaction (ITE) Law, the Money Laundering Law as well as some articles of the Criminal Code (KUHP) for allegedly blackmailing PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia official AY and PT Tower Bersama Group official Abdul Satar.
Azi, one of the prosecutors, told the panel of judges at the court that the three had blackmailed Abdul by using a number of online portals as well as the Twitter handle @TrioMacan2000.
The account is widely known among Twitter users for its controversial tweets that usually broadcast public figures' dirty laundry through unverifiable posts.
Edi, Hari and Raden worked at the online news portal asatunews.com as a commissioner, director and editor-in-chief, respectively.
However, Azi added that asatunews.com was not among the online news portals the defendants used to blackmail the victims.
According to Azi, the three used various portals that were managed by them to publish gossip and later extorted the victims if they wanted the gossip to be taken offline.
'They asked the victim for Rp 375 million in exchange for them taking down the news and the victim's photo from their news portal,' Azi said.
The prosecutors are to charge them with Article 29 of the ITE Law on distributing content that threatens others, articles 369 and 378 of the KUHP on extortion and fraud and Article 3 of the Money Laundering Law. The articles carry a maximum 20-year prison sentence.
During Monday's trial, only two defendants could be seen in attendance. The third, Raden, refused to meet the prosecutors' summons for the trial.
In a letter read out by presiding judge Nizar, Raden argued that the prosecution had not followed the correct summons process by delivering the required letter via the detention center officials where Raden had been detained.
'The prosecutor should have given the letter to me himself, therefore I refuse to appear at my trial unless they can do it properly,' Raden said in his letter.
Commenting on Raden's request, judge Nizar told the prosecution that the letter was baseless and ordered the defendant to be brought to court by force if necessary.
'Raden should be here at the next hearing on March 23. The prosecution can bring him here by force if he continues to refuse,' the judge said.
After years of spreading online gossip, the trio, whose real identities were hitherto concealed, met their downfall when victims filed a report against the three in October last year, accusing them of defamation and extortion.
