The Civil Society Coalition against impunity submitted a lawsuit against the Cultural Minister Fadli Zon to the Jakarta Civil Court on Thursday (11/9/2025). The lawsuit is about the statement made by Fadli who denied that mass rape ever happened in May 1998 and de-legitimated the Joint Fact Finding Task Force work regarding the May 1998 incident.

The lawyer for the Coalition, Jane Rosalina, said that the lawsuit targeted the Government Administrative Action re. statement by the Cultural Minister in news released by the Cultural Ministry No. : 151/Sipers/A4/HM.00.005/2025 dated 16 May 2025 (broadcasted on 16 June 2025) and uploaded in official Instagram account of the Cultural Ministry @fadlizon and official account of the Cultural Ministry @kemenbud dated 16 June 2025 which stated: "... report of the Joint Fact Finding Task Force only mentioned numbers without solid supporting data that contained names, time, incident, place of incident or perpetrators. We had to be extra cautious and careful regarding this because it was about truth and the honour/reputation of our country. We should not embarrass our own country... it is important to always have legally- and academically-tested proof as is normally the practice in historiography. And this is about numbers and terms that are at issue...”

This was exactly what the Coalition argued for in the Civil Court in Jakarta as a form of government administration – re. statement by Fadli Zon, as cultural minister in a press conference and that statement was part of Fadli Zon clarification of the statement at issue during Real Talk interview with Uni Lubis regarding revision of the history book appearing at IDN Times on 10 June 2025. That statement in the broadcast was problematic and the Coalition perceived it as de-legitimising facts about the mass rape in May 1998 revealed by the Joint Fact Finding Task Force who had official mandate from six inistries and who had worked since 23 July 1998. The team’s mandate was to uncover facts about violence against women in May 1998, and violence that happened on 13, 14, and 15 May 1998. The team uncovered the perpetrators, the alleged serious human rights abuses and other rights abuses, and the Team submitted these to the Cultural Minister, so that the latter was able to account for them in the court, in particular the civil court, as the Coalition believed that what Fadli zon did through his statement was an integral part of the government administrative action based on Law No. 30 Year 2014 on Government Administration.

As cited in Kompas.co, Fadli Zon was publicly condemned because he doubted that the mass rape happened in May 1998 during an interview with IDN Times. He said that the incident was based on rumour that was/is circulating and there was never any proof of the mass rape in May 1998. "If it was a mass rape, were/are there proofs of such mass rape? Who said so? There has never been any proof. That was only a story. If there are proof, show me. Did the history book say that it happened? Never," said Fadli Zon, in Real Talk program with Uni Lubis, on Monday (8/6/2025). The Constitutional Court decision prohibited organisations to report defamation, what would be the impacts for democracy? The article in Kompas.id also read: Fadli Zon decided that the 27th September was a National Comedy Day after his words became famous, Fadli Zon said that he did not mean to deny that there was mass rape, but asked the public to be mature in considering the event. Fadli said that we had to look at history with clear eyes, without abandoning empathy and common sense. "We must respect every historical wound or trauma. But history is not about emotion, it is also about truth based on data and facts," said Fadli Zon in his statement, on Tuesday (17/6/2025).

“We also ask the plaintiff to take part in this press conference,” said Jane Rosalina. The individual plaintiffs were: (1) Marzuki Darusman, Chair of the Joint Fact Finding Task Force (TGPF May 1998), (2) Ita F. Nadia, lawter for the victims of mass rape in May 1998, (3) Kusmiyati, the Alliance for May 1998, and (4) Sandyawan Sumardi, Coordinator of Volunteer Team for Humanity. Organisational plaintiiffs were: Chinese Youth Alliance or Ikatan Pemuda Tionghoa Indonesia (IPTI), Indonesian Legal Aid or Yayasan Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Indonesia (YLBHI), and Kalyanamitra. (Ast)