Jakarta – Prosecutors have asked the Surabaya District Court to sentence musician Ahmad Dhani to one and a half years' imprisonment for calling his political rivals "idiots" in a vlog post.
"[We demand that the court] sentence [Dhani] to prison for one year and six months," East Java prosecutor Hari said at a hearing at the court on Tuesday as quoted by Antara news agency.
Dhani had been indicted under Article 27, clause 3 of the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law, which forbids the deliberate distribution of "electronic information and/or documents that contain insults and/or defamation".
Last year, Dhani was reported to the police by a coalition called Defend NKRI (Unitary State of the Republic Indonesia) after the musician called those who opposed the 2019 Ganti Presiden (2019 Change President) declaration in Surabaya "idiots" in a vlog.
Dhani was named a suspect in the case last October by East Java Police.
The former Dewa lead singer was convicted under the same law by the South Jakarta District Court in January for tweeting that supporters of former Jakarta governor Basuki "BTP" Tjahaja Purnama should be "spat on".
The court sentenced him to 18 months imprisonment, but he was transferred to Surabaya in February to face trial for the current case. Dhani is scheduled to present his defense statement at the next hearing, scheduled for two weeks from now. (kmt)