AGO Appoint 15 Prosecutors in Panji Gumilang Blasphemy Case

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Attorney General's Office (AGO) appointed 15 prosecutors to handle the alleged Panji Gumilang blasphemy case. The Head of Legal Information of AGO, I Ketut Sumedana, said that the prosecutors were appointed following the transfer of the case brief from the police's General Crime Directorate.

"The team of 15 prosecutors has been appointed to coordinate intensively and effectively with the investigators to accelerate the trial process," said Ketut on Friday, August 18, 2023.

Ketut said that the prosecutors have 14 days to examine the formal and material requirements of the brief in accordance with the procedural law. If the case has enough evidence to be declared P21, the investigators are obliged to transfer the suspect and the evidence to the prosecutors. 

Ketut explained that the prosecutor's office has not decided where the hearing for Panji Gumilang will be conducted. "If we think conducting [the hearing] in the [district court] is safe, then there's no problem," he said.

Previously, the Directorate of General Crime of the National Police named Panji Gumilang a suspect for alleged blasphemy, hate speech, and hoax on August 1, 2023. Panji Gumilang has been detained for 20 days since August 2, 2023.

The suspect, who is the founder of the Islamic boarding school Al Zaytun, allegedly violated Article 156a of the Criminal Code, Article 45a (2) in conjunction with Article 28 (2) of the ITE Law, and/or Article 14 (1) of Law No. 1 of 1946.

EKA YUDHA SAPUTRA

Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo in Google News