Durian. The Denpasar District Court in Bali has sentenced a musician I Gede Ari Astina, popular as Jerinx to 14 months in prison, proven him guilty for defaming Indonesian Doctor Association (IDI) on his social media in June 2020.
“We declared the defendant I Gede Ari Astina or Jerinx SID guilty of committing a crime, as he intentionally spread information that incite hatred against a certain group of people,” Ida Ayu Adnyana Dewi, the presiding judge said on Nov.19.
Jerinx was also fined as much as Rp 10 million ($705).
State prosecutors previously indicted Jerinx, a member of metal music group Superman is Dead (SID), was legally and convincingly proven guilty of violating articles at Indonesia’s Information and Electronic Transaction (ITE) Law which regulate deliberate action of spreading information that could spread hatred to an individual or a group in the society based on tribal affiliations, religion, race and societal groups (SARA).
One of the prosecutors considered the defendant’s statement had hurt the feeling of doctors all over the country by producing hate speech in the form of words, sentences and narratives posted by Jerinx via Instagram platform.
Jerinx’s case began when he uploaded a statement regarding IDI on Instagram on June 15, saying: “Because they are proud to be housemaids of WHO, IDI and hospitals arbitrarily oblige all people who will give birth to be tested for covid-19”.
In responding to the musician’s statement on social media, the Chairman of IDI’s Bali branch I Gede Putra Suteja had file a police report against Jerinx to Bali Police for spreading hate speech and defamation on June 16 which lead to the imprisonment sentence to the drummer.
The verdict was less than prosecutors’ demand of three years jail sentence.
