JAKARTA, LITERASIHUKUM.COM — Coordinating Minister for Legal Affairs, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections Yusril Ihza Mahendra requested that public prosecutors not seek reasons to file a cassation against the acquittal of Delpedro Marhaen and three other defendants in the alleged incitement case related to the August 2025 demonstration. According to Yusril, based on the provisions of the new Criminal Procedure Code, an acquittal can no longer be appealed, so the case must be considered legally closed.

Yusril specifically mentioned the old practice of often distinguishing between “pure acquittal” and “impure acquittal” to pave the way for cassation. He asked that such an approach no longer be used under the new criminal procedure law regime. According to him, prosecutors should adhere to the legal construction that currently applies, rather than looking for loopholes from old interpretations to prolong cases that have been acquitted by the court.

Yusril Emphasizes that the Acquittal of Delpedro et al. is Final

Yusril's statement came after the Central Jakarta District Court acquitted Delpedro Marhaen, Muzaffar Salim, Syahdan Husein, and Khariq Anhar of all the prosecutor's charges. In the previous decision, the panel of judges stated that the elements of the public prosecutor's charges were not proven, either related to the alleged spread of false news, incitement, or other charges related to the August 2025 demonstration. Therefore, Yusril believes that the case should stop at that level and the defendants' rights should be restored immediately.

He also stated that the government respects the court's decision to acquit Delpedro et al. In his view, the decision shows that the judicial process is running independently without government intervention. This statement also affirms that the government, at least officially, takes a position to respect the outcome of the trial and does not encourage further legal efforts regarding the acquittal.

The New Criminal Procedure Code Closes the Path to Cassation Against Acquittals

Normatively, Yusril's stated position refers to Article 299 paragraph (2) of Law Number 20 of 2025 concerning the Criminal Procedure Code. In that provision, the submission of a cassation review cannot be filed against several types of decisions, including an acquittal. The formulation also includes other exceptions, such as decisions in the form of judicial pardon, decisions in the form of actions, decisions for certain criminal acts with lighter threats, and decisions examined by summary proceedings. The wording of the norm is widely quoted in news reports and is in line with Yusril's statement.

In the uploaded legislative materials, the citation mapping shows that Article 41 of the previous provision, the reference is changed to Article 299 in the new law. Although the explanation of the Law only briefly states “sufficiently clear” for Article 299, the reference to that article is indeed the basis used by Yusril when stating that the acquittal of Delpedro et al. can no longer be appealed.

Law Number 1 of 2023 (9)

Substantially, Yusril's statement is important because it touches on one of the fundamental changes in Indonesian criminal procedure law: a stricter limitation on extraordinary legal remedies against acquittals. If this interpretation is consistently applied, the old practice of opening up space for cassation against acquittals with various doctrinal constructions will become increasingly difficult to maintain. This means that the Delpedro et al. case is not only relevant to the defendants, but also has the potential to be an initial marker of how new Criminal Procedure Code begins to work in practice.