Francisca Chrsty Rosana, Jakarta – As it turns out, Buni Yani has his own reasons in joining the Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno campaign team. Buni is included in the Prabowo camp's media team.
"This is one of my attempts to fight Pak Jokowi," said Buni when Tempo met him at the Senayan parliamentary complex in Jakarta today. Buni Yani plans to fully utilize social media platform for his campaigns.
Buni Yani claims he had become a victim of criminalization in the hate speech case in which he was implicated. Buni's case is closely related to the blasphemy case of former Jakarta governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama.
Buni Yani was proven guilty in court for editing a video footage into a short clip containing an excerpt where Ahok mentioned the Al Maidah verse and uploading it onto his social media account in 2016. He was sentenced to 1.5 years behind bars in November, but had yet to be imprisoned.
He added he would not let Jokowi prevailed in the upcoming presidential race, saying that, "Prabowo must win, otherwise I will be imprisoned for 1.5 years," said Buni Yani.
He also said that his joining the Prabowo camp would not sap the pair's electability rate. "Clearly I am qualified because I received my master's degree in the United States," said Buni Yani.