Indonesian celebrity Rey Utami begs for forgiveness in ‘salted fish’ genitalia defamation case

One of Indonesia’s most curious defamation cases ever continues in court, with the media focus now shifting to a heartfelt plea made by one of the defendants.

First, a recap. On June 15, 2019, sinetron (Indonesian soap opera) actor Galih Ginanjar appeared as a guest on a YouTube channel hosted by TV presenter Rey Utami. During the half-hour long video, Rey quizzed Galih on details about his personal life, including his marriage to actress Fairuz A Rafiq, which ended in 2015.

At one point in the video, Galih described in vulgar detail about how Fairuz was in bed, going as far as saying that her genitalia smelled like “salted fish” and that their sexual intercourse “usually lasted 15 minutes,” to which Rey couldn’t contain her laughter.

Fairuz then reported the video to the police for possible defamation. After undergoing several police inquiries, Galih, Rey, and her husband Pablo Benua, who runs the YouTube channel with her, were charged with slander under the Information and Electronic Transactions Act (UU ITE), which could see them imprisoned for six years for disseminating defamatory content online.

Before yesterday’s hearing at the South Jakarta district court, Rey told reporters that she’s ready to accept legal responsibility in the case but begged for the judges to consider the well-being of her one-year-old child, who she had been separated from for seven months since she was charged and detained.

“If possible, I want to be able to sleep on the same bed with my child. But the rules don’t allow it. Children aren’t allowed to live with us in jail,” she said, as quoted by Tribun.

Rey also begged Fairuz for forgiveness.

“I’m a woman and she’s a woman. She’s Muslim and I’m Muslim. There’s no difference. Every woman who has a child would miss her child even if they’re separated for one day,” she said.

During last week’s hearing, Fairuz broke down in tears when she was called up to the witness stand to testify against the three defendants, saying that she would never forget the insult and that she would refuse to drop the charges against them.