REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Gerindra Party politician Fadli Zon said his fellow politician Ahmad Dhani refused to be transferred to the Surabaya prison for another trial on hate speech-related charges for safety reason. Speaking to journalists after visiting Dhani at the Jakarta-based Cipinang prison on Wednesday, he stated that Dhani had expressed concerns over his safety if he was transferred to the Surabaya prison in East Java Province.
However, despite his refusal for being transferred, Dhani, who is also a legislative candidate of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), would remain committed to the trial processes in Surabaya, Zon noted. Dhani has been respecting the court processes of his case by attending trial procession, committing to legal processes, and maintaining good behavior during his imprisonment at the Cipinang prison, he added.
Zon remarked that he himself was concerned with Dhani's safety, and expected him not to get transferred to the Surabaya prison.
In the case of Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, who was sentenced to two years for blasphemy against Islam in 2017, the former Jakarta governor also spent his imprisonment term at the National Police's Mobile Brigade Detention Center for safety reason, he explained. Hence, on behalf of the Gerindra Party, Zon noted that he felt that there would be a safety problem for Dhani if he was transferred to Surabaya prison.
"We cannot supervise him," Zon who is also Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives said, adding that he would keep questioning the authorized parties if Dhani, who is widely known as a Gerindra politician, was not returned to Jakarta after attending a trial process in the East Java city of Surabaya.
Indra Wansyach, a member of Dhani's lawyer team, earlier pointed out that Dhani remained in Cipinang prison in Jakarta. He would be taken by plane to Surabaya only for the trial on Feb 7 and then would return to Jakarta again.
"We, his lawyer team, are ready to assist Dhani in his travel from Jakarta to Surabaya and vice versa during the trial process," he stated.
The Surabaya prosecutor's office charged Dhani for a statement on his Instagram account. The Surabaya Court will hold the inaugural session against Dhani for his statement on Feb 7, 2019.
"Those who are protesting defend the ruler. It's funny. These are the idiots protesting against people who are not in power," according to the video containing Dhani's statement.
Dhani is currently being jailed in Cipinang prison, after he was found guilty of a hate speech tweet on his Twitter account. He was awarded a 1.5-year prison term by the South Jakarta Court on Jan 28 this year. His tweet in March 2017, considered a hate speech, read: "Those supporting blasphemy are bastards who need to be spit on their faces."
Dhani had appealed to a higher court, but the judge decided that he must be immediately imprisoned after the Jakarta Court trial.
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