Journalist in the Business Field Reported to Authorities After Posting Critique on Facebook

Description

Medan Bisnis's journalist, Jhonni Sitompul, who works in Serdang Bedagai (Sergai) district in North Sumatra, was reported to the police. Jhonni was reported use ITE Law by the Regional Secretary of the Serdang Bedagai Regency Government, Faisal Hasrimy, for writing criticism on his Facebook account, which was seen as an attempt to damage the reputation of the Regional Secretary.

The article was critical of the Regional Secretary, written by Jhonni commenting on the status of the Sergai District Government's Facebook account regarding the news "Sergai Has Off-Road Potential". Commenting on this status, Jhonni then wrote his comment "It is indeed extraordinary that the regional secretary has forged the signature of the chairman of the GAYO LUES DPRD (local legislative), to popularize Sergai District, apart from being famous as a flood area, now it is also an off-road area for the Adhyaksa corps, its too much! there is no sense of crisis.” The comment used the journalist's personal Facebook account and was written on December 13, 2022.

Information
Is the case related to their journalistic work?
Yes
Number of attacked persons or entities related to media
1
Do they work as freelance or media?
Yes
Position in media
Reporter
Status of journalists
Unknown
Gender
Male
Age
Unknown
Country
North Sumatra
Full name or name of group
Identified
The name of perpetrator (individual/group)
Regional Secretary of the Serdang Bedagai Regency Government, Faisal Hasrimy
Background (state actor or non state actor)
State actor (Police officer, Military officer, Government, public institution, etc)
Gender
Male
Is it related to gender and identity based violence?
No
Attack mention about gender background/sexual wording?
No
Date of incident
Type of incident
Criminal lawsuit/charge: Blasphemy
Please type the data source here (Link)
https://advokasi.aji.or.id/read/data-kekerasan/2108.html?y=2023&m=2&ye=2023&me=2