The Pandeglang District Court in Banten today sentenced Alwi Husen Maolana to six years in prison in a landmark punishment for revenge porn in Indonesia.
The court found the 22-year-old guilty of defamation under the Information and Electronic Transactions Act (UU ITE), which carries a maximum penalty of six years’ imprisonment. Judges in the case set Alwi’s fine to IDR1 billion (US$66,837) in lieu of an additional three months in prison.
The court also banned Alwi from accessing the internet for eight years, including any social media activity.
The victim’s legal counsel says it will now pursue additional charges against Alwi, specifically related to sexual assault, extortion, and abuse under the Sexual Crimes Law.
The case grabbed the public’s attention in late June thanks to a viral Twitter thread by the victim’s older brother, Iman Zanatul Haeri, in which he detailed the agony his sister and their family went through.
According to Iman, Alwi, the victim’s ex-boyfriend, sent a sex tape to him and the victim’s other siblings in December 2022. Alwi also shared the video to the victim’s close friends, and threatened to spread it to her college professors.
In the video, which featured Alwi and the victim, it was apparent that she did not give consent to being filmed.
Iman also detailed that his sister was in an abusive relationship that lasted for around three years with Alwi.
The victim reported Alwi to the police, but said they faced numerous hurdles in the investigation and bringing the case to trial. Most notably, Iman claimed that prosecutors pressured the victim’s family into accepting an out-of-court settlement, which they refused. In response, Iman posted the Twitter thread in order to get backing from the public, which appears to have bore fruit after the tweets went viral and triggered huge outrage in Indonesia.
