The lawyer for an Indonesian man recently arrested for his role in a high-profile double murder case told AFP her client had been in custody as of June 12, 2024, refuted false reports repeatedly shared on social media. The messages claimed to share a photo of Pegi Setiawan’s release, but the image was doctored and was actually published in a news story about an unrelated matter.
The false claim was shared on SnackVideo on May 26, 2024.
The video in the post – viewed 98,000 times – included an image with a man’s face circled in red. He is shown holding a document as he appears to be standing next to a police officer and several other people.
“The police have made an unlawful arrest. Finally the fake Egi has been released by the police,” read the Indonesian text at the top and bottom of the screen. video, using Pegi’s nickname.
The false claim came to light after Indonesian police arrested Pegi for him on May 21, 2024 so-called role in the rape and murder of Vina Dewi Arsita and the murder of her boyfriend Muhammad Rizky eight years ago (archived link).
Authorities said Pegi was on the initial list of 11 people responsible for the crime in the city of Cirebon in West Java, for which eight people had already been convicted (archived link).
He has denied the accusation.
There was public interest in the case renewed after a film based on the twin murders was released on May 8 (archived link).
Similar false claims were also shared on SnackVideo, Facebook and YouTube.
Still in custody
Sugianti Iriani – a lawyer on Pegi’s defense team – told AFP on June 12 that he was not released contrary to the reports.
“Even we cannot get the suspension of detention,” she said. “Egi is still in custody until who knows when.”
Indonesian news channel iNews reported that his family visited him at the West Java police station where he was being held in custody on June 5 – weeks after videos of his purported release surfaced (archived here).
There is no bail system in Indonesia, but judges, investigators and prosecutors can grant requests for suspension of detention, which could lead to a suspect’s release (archived link).
As of June 12, there have been no official reports that Pegi has been released.
Manipulated image
Furthermore, the image shared in the posts is unrelated and has been manipulated to insert individuals involved in the double murder case.
The original photo appeared in a news story published over a year before Pegi’s arrest.
A reverse image search on Google revealed that a version of the photo had been published by the Indonesian News Agencyy Antaranews on February 13, 2023 (archived here).
The report was about a nurse accused of accidentally cutting off a baby’s finger. It said the man whose face was circled in the fake image was actually the baby’s father.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the image in the video with the false claim (left) and the photo published by Antaranews (right):
In addition, the image was changed to include the faces of Hotman Paris Hutapea and Putri Maya Rumanti – lawyers for the murder victims – and West Java police spokesperson Jules Abraham Abast (archived links here, here and here).
Below are screenshot comparisons of the edited image (left) and the photos of the individuals digitally added to it (right):
AFP has previously debunked misinformation circulating around the case.
