Gorontalo – The Gorontalo District Court has sentenced Gorontalo governor Rusli Habibie to eight months in jail after being found guilty in a defamation case filed by former Gorontalo Police chief and current head of National Narcotics Agency (BNN) Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso.
Presiding judge Johnicol Richard Frans Sine said on Monday that Rusli was found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of committing libel against Budi.
Rusli, who was accompanied by his wife Idah Syahidah, did not comment on the verdict. He rushed home after the hearing. His lawyer Herson Abbas told reporters that the sentence was too heavy and unfair. "We will appeal," Herson said.
The case was built on a letter Rusli sent a letter in 2013 to then coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister, home minister and president, revealing the disharmony between the provincial administration and then Gorontalo police chief Budi.