The trial of Benny Handoko who is known on popular microblogging site Twitter for his critical opinions, began on Monday, he is accused of defamation of former member of the House of Representatives Misbakhun.

Benny, who tweets under the handle @Benhan, has 48,000 followers. Misbakhun filed a report to the police after Benny referred to him as a "robber" when tweeting about the bailout of Bank Century, he said he was offended by Benny's remark

Misbakhun had been implicated in a bogus letter-of-credit case concerning Bank Century but the Supreme Court found him not guilty. He asked Benny to retract his statement and apologize, but Benny refused to do so.

On Monday, Benny and his supporters were united in protest inside the courtroom by wearing surgical masks and remaining silent throughout proceeding. When asked to comment on the trial, Misbakhun said his lawyers had been assigned to deal with the case.

Benny was charged under the draconian 2008 Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE) Law.