Naman Sanip, 52, is a bubur (porridge) seller who found himself in trouble with the law after he tried to block incumbent Vice Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat from campaigning in Kembangan, West Jakarta on November 9, by leading an angry mob of protesters against him. Impeding a campaign is a criminal offense in Indonesia.
Naman was given a 2-month prison sentence by the West Jakarta District Court today after he was found guilty of deliberately trying to prevent an election campaign. Thankfully, the judges gave Naman a 4-month sentence suspension, meaning that he won’t have to set foot inside a jail as long as he doesn’t commit the same crime during the probation period.
The judges took into account that the plaintiff, Vice Governor Djarot, had already forgiven Naman. Djarot also sat through some of Naman’s court hearings in order to encourage him, but the vice governor said he would not intervene with the law.
However, Naman still denied the accusation that he led a mob of protesters to prevent Djarot from campaigning in a village in Kembangan in November.
“I’m just a bubur seller,” Naman told the judges, as quoted by Vivanews today.
Naman has requested for more time in order to decide whether or not he would like to file an appeal against the decision. The court has set the next hearing for December 27.
Naman was found guilty of violating Article 187 verse 4 of Law no. 10 of 2016 on Regional Elections, which carries the punishment of 1 to 6 months imprisonment and a fine of Rp 600K to Rp 6 million.
Reader Interactions