Jakarta – The Purworejo District Court in Central Java has sentenced a couple who earlier this year declared themselves the king and queen of the so-called Keraton Agung Sejagat (World Empire) to prison for spreading false information.
Forty-three-year-old Totok Santosa Hadiningrat was sentenced to four years behind bars while his wife, 42-year-old Fani Aminadia, was sentenced to one year and six months.
"The two defendants were proven to have spread false information and deliberately caused a public disturbance," presiding judge Sutarno said in a hearing on Tuesday, as quoted by kompas.com.
The panel of judges ruled that the couple had violated Article 14 of the 1946 Criminal Law, which prohibits spreading false information that could cause mass hysteria and carries a maximum sentence of 10 years' imprisonment.
The sentence was lighter than the prosecutors' demand of five years' imprisonment for Toto and three years and six months for Fani. Both the prosecutors and the defendant's lawyers said they were still considering whether to appeal the sentence.
Both Totok and Fani proclaimed their royalty in January, inviting the press to their "palace" in Pogung Jurutengah village, Bayan district, Purworejo regency to announce the new kingdom's existence. The declaration quickly went viral on social media.
Totok claimed that his kingdom had around 425 followers back then, while his so-called royal advisor said the kingdom was a successor to the Majapahit kingdom that spanned much of Southeast Asia at its peak in the 13th century.
Days after the declaration, the Purworejo Police arrested the couple for spreading false news.