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.

Jakarta Post

Lawmaker loses post, faces trial for abusing maid

Lawmaker Fanny Afriansyah, also known as Ivan Haz, was dismissed on Thursday from the House of Representatives

Indra Budiari (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Fri, June 3, 2016

Share This Article

Change Size

Lawmaker loses post, faces trial for abusing maid

L

awmaker Fanny Afriansyah, also known as Ivan Haz, was dismissed on Thursday from the House of Representatives. However, his troubles are still far from over as attention now turns to his criminal trial regarding abuse.

During a plenary session, House deputy speaker Taufik Kurniawan declared that lawmakers had approved the House’s ethic council’s (MKD) findings that Ivan had breached behavioral standards by abusing his domestic helper.

The abuse case broke out in October 2015 when the domestic helper filed a report against the son of former vice president Hamzah Haz to the Jakarta Police, claiming that she had been severally beaten by the United Development Party (PPP) politician since working for him in May.

Ivan, who has been in detainment since February, had sought leniency by asking for the domestic helper’s forgiveness, hoping that it would end the criminal investigation. However, through the helper’s legal representatives from the Women’s Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Apik), they insisted that “an apology would not affect the investigation”.

The helper had told her representatives that Ivan had hit her on the head with a mosquito spray bottle, kicked her if she made a mistake and threatened to kill her if she ever dared to escape from his house. She finally fled from Ivan’s house with lacerations to the head and back injuries.

On Thursday, PPP secretary-general Arsul Sani said the party respected the decision to dismiss Ivan, adding that his place at the House would be replaced by the candidate who secured the second highest amount of votes during the 2014 legislative election.

“We respected the ethic council’s decision from the beginning, the PPP has the utmost confidence in the House’s internal mechanisms that made the decision,” he told reporters after the plenary session.

Previously, the PPP said that it would provide legal assistance to Ivan for the case. In March, party chairman Djan Faridz had said in any case the party was ready to assist Ivan ”with the best lawyer as he was a party member”.

Ivan’s trial was previously scheduled to start at the Central Jakarta District Court on Thursday, but was rescheduled to June 8 due at the prosecutors’ request. Prosecutors charged him under Articles 44 and 45 of the 2004 law on the elimination of domestic violence, with a maximum punishment of 10 years’ imprisonment and Rp 30 million (US$2,190) in fines.

Having been elected by his East Java constituent in 2014, Ivan is in his first term at the House.

On Feb. 22 Ivan was reportedly arrested by the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) for using drugs with eight Kostrad members, five policemen and five civilians. The case is still under investigation.

Despite all the controversy, the PPP is still reluctant to dismiss Ivan from the party, as Arsul said the party would need to hold a meeting to decide Ivan’s status, adding that his defense needed to be heard as well.

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.