JakartaPost-Aug 11, 2023
University of Indonesia lecturer Rocky Gerung is facing criminal charges following a controversial remark he made about President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in a case that has sparked debates over the limits of free speech. In a YouTube video that was originally posted late last month but has since been taken down, Rocky seemingly called President Jokowi a “bajingan tolol” (stupid bastard) when describing his insistence in seeing through his ambitious new capital city project despite its economic challenges. Rocky’s statement has since caused a public uproar, with many government officials and Jokowi supporters having lambasted the academic for being out of line with his criticism. Some of Jokowi’s supporters, along with party members of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), of which Jokowi is a member, have also staged protests against Rocky. “[Rocky’s statement] is a clear attack against the President and it cannot be tolerated. I hope law enforcers can take measures [against Rocky] in accordance with applicable laws. Things like this cannot slide,” Presidential chief of staff Moeldoko said last week. The philosophy lecturer has been reported close to two dozen times to the police as of Tuesday, although none of these reports came from Jokowi himself. Under the controversial Electronic Information and Transaction (ITE) Law, the provision on defamation requires Rocky to be reported to the authorities by Jokowi himself. When asked by reporters last week about Rocky’s criticism, Jokowi provided a curt response. “Those are trivial matters, I will just focus on my work.” As anger simmers among pro-Jokowi supporters, Rocky made a public apology last week, saying that his criticisms were not specifically directed at Jokowi, but was instead directed at his administration in general. “I would like to apologize for the situation we find ourselves in today,” Rocky said in a televised press conference. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/paper/2023/08/11/lecturers-curse-of-president-tests-limits-of-free-speech.html
