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‘Jokowi Undercover’ author sentenced to three years in prison
Blora District Court in Central Java sentenced on Monday the author of the book Jokowi Undercover, Bambang Tri Mulyono, 45, to three years in prison for insulting the President.
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The author of 'Jokowi Undercover', Bambang Tri Mulyono (left), talks to his wife prior to his defamation hearing in the Blora District Court in Central Java on March 20. 'Jokowi Undercover' reportedly contains libelous statements about President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. (Antara/Yusuf Nugroho)
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lora District Court in Central Java sentenced on Monday the author of the book Jokowi Undercover, Bambang Tri Mulyono, 45, to three years in prison for insulting the President.
The panel of judges ruled that Bambang, who was arrested on Dec. 31, was “proven to have insulted and defamed President Joko [“Jokowi”] Widodo and also to have triggered disunity and feuds between ethnic, religious, racial or social groups,” chief judge Makmurin Kusumastuti said.
Makmurin said that Bambang has violated Article 28 paragraph 2 and Article 45a paragraph 2 of the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law of 2016 and Article 64 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code. The verdict was lighter than the prosecutors’ demand of a four-year prison term.
The court also seized 38 pieces of evidence, including a copy of Jokowi Undercover, which reportedly contained libelous statements, screen shots of Bambang’s Facebook timeline containing insulting posts about Jokowi, communication tools and several bank accounts.
Bambang said he planned to file an appeal without his lawyers as he said they did not defend him enough.
Bambang’s posts on Facebook were tracked by the Central Java Police's cybercrime team. From Nov. 13 to Nov. 28, 2016 Bambang wrote several posts on his account that contained insults of Jokowi, describing the President as the son an Indonesian Communist Party member, accusing him of fabricating his biography and uttering several other insults related to his position as President.
