Pandji was reported last week to the Jakarta Police by groups billing themselves as the youth wings of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, Indonesia’s two largest Islamic organizations, over material in his two-hour stand-up comedy special Mens Rea.

Released on Netflix on Dec. 27, 2025, the show features Pandji’s satirical commentary on the 2024 general election, post-election politics and the state of Indonesia’s democracy. Since its release, the show has topped the streaming platform’s most-watched list in the country.

The complainants accused Mens Rea of containing defamatory statements for implying that NU and Muhammadiyah had accepted mining concessions from the government in exchange for supporting a certain presidential candidate pair in the last election.

The government regulation, which allowed all religious groups to manage state-owned mines, was signed in 2024 by then president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who tacitly supported presidential ticket and eventual winners Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Jokowi’s oldest son.

The police report against Pandji has since drawn criticism from fellow comedians, civil society groups and law experts, who view it as an attempt to criminalize satire and curb free speech.

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