JAKARTA, LITERASIHUKUM.COM — The 10th and 12th Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia, Jusuf Kalla, has officially taken legal steps to respond to narratives that are cornering him. The senior figure reported a person named Rismon to the police for alleged defamation. This firm action was taken following baseless accusations that Jusuf Kalla was the funder behind the legal suit regarding the validity of President Joko Widodo's diploma.

Jusuf Kalla's side asserts that reporting to law enforcement institutions is the most elegant way to refute slander in the public sphere. Regarding the reported party's motive for spreading the funding issue, Jusuf Kalla's camp chose not to give an excessive response. They stated that they were reluctant to speculate on whether there were political elements behind the allegations and chose to fully entrust the process of proof to the police authorities.

Juridically, accusations without authentic evidence that attack a person's honor and reputation can be qualified as an unlawful act. In current criminal law enforcement practice, the spread of such narratives will generally be subject to the instrument of defamation as regulated in the Criminal Code (KUHP) and the Law on Information and Electronic Transactions (UU ITE), depending on the medium of dissemination.

Now, the legal process has begun in the realm of investigation. The police have full authority to summon the parties, collect preliminary evidence, and investigate the malicious intent or mens rea of the statements made by the reported party. The public awaits the integrity of this legal process to ensure that freedom of expression is not misused to distribute false information that injures the civil rights of citizens.