Politician Suggests Jokowi to Consider Mass Amnesty for ITE Law 'Victims'

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician Nasir Djamil in a virtual discussion on Tuesday advised President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to show his commitment in fixing the Electronic Information and Transactions Law (ITE Law) by granting mass-amnesty for people who have been charged with it.

“Well, if the President sees it as an urgent issue a mass amnesty should be considered as proof and show of commitment that the President sees a huge problem in a number of Articles within the ITE Law,” said Djamil.

This comes after Saiful Madhi, lecturer for an Aceh university, had been granted amnesty by the President after the lecturer was charged for slander under the ITE Law. His case was not unique as there were a number of prominent cases of the law imprisoning people for the same offense. 

Nasir believed the creation of the ITE Law had deviated from its initial purpose, which was meant as a protection for tech-based business activities such as fintechs or online loan companies which are growing rampantly.

“It can be a real sign that we are committed to fixing the ITE Law and present ethics into our lives as an Indonesian,” he said. “In the middle of the journey there are those who included Articles that eventually became overly broad in its definition.”

Read: Saiful Mahdi Hope for A Revision to ITE Law

EGI ADYATAMA