Hotman Paris Apologizes for Dragging President Prabowo into Febrie Case

Prominent lawyer Hotman Paris has once again apologized after dragging President Joko Widodo into the defense of his client, former Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes Febrie Adriansyah, who is currently under investigation for alleged corruption. In a personal Instagram post, Paris specifically extended his apologies to the Attorney General, the National Police Chief, and the Jakarta Metropolitan Police Chief. He stated that his remarks during a press conference at the Attorney General's Office were made in the context of defending his client. Paris had previously claimed that Adriansyah was a figure Prabowo admired for his intense efforts in combating corruption, but was now being "criminalized." "Hotman expresses his apologies if there were any words or actions that were not pleasing during the press conference, after the examination of the suspect, the former Jampidsus, at the Attorney General's Office on July 17, 2026," he said. Hotman admitted that his statements involving President Prabowo were purely for the purpose of defending his client, with no other political motivations. "Whatever I said was purely from the aspect of legal advocacy, there was no political motivation or involvement whatsoever. Yes, it was purely speech as a lawyer whose duty is to try to protect his client legally," he stated. "Once again, Mr. President of the Republic of Indonesia, Mr. Attorney General, Mr. National Police Chief, and Mr. Jakarta Metropolitan Police Chief, once again Hotman apologizes. That is all and thank you," he added. Previously, Hotman had referred to the case ensnaring Febrie as a form of "criminalization," expressing his dismay at his client's current situation. He highlighted that during his tenure as Jampidsus, Febrie was an accomplished individual who made President Prabowo proud by successfully recovering a staggering amount of state assets. "The Jampidsus is someone who is proud of President Prabowo. He managed to recover state losses of Rp130 trillion, plus Rp300 trillion from the PKH Task Force. A total of Rp430 trillion returned to the state. Imagine, someone who is the pride of the President is suddenly criminalized without informing the President," he said. Meanwhile, Minister of State Secretary (Mensesneg) Prasetyo Hadi emphasized that the government fully entrusts the case to the legal process. Pras urged that no one should link the case to the President. "Don't also associate it with Mr. President. We fully return it to the applicable legal mechanism," Pras said after a meeting at Commission V of the House of Representatives on Monday (20/7). Pras also asserted that law enforcement officials do not need to seek the President's permission to process legal cases. He reiterated that the government wants Febrie's case to be processed according to the law. "I don't think there is any need for presidential permission just during the examination process," he stated.