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Prita decision raises public ire with court

JAKARTA LIFE'S STYLE

Legislators, top attorneys, a human rights activist and former Constitutional Court justice are joining the public outcry against Supreme Court’s decision to send a housewife to prison for sending an email complaint about a hospital.

The ruling issued on Friday revived the public’s outcry with the nation’s judicial system given that the housewife, Prita Mulyasari, was declared innocent by a lower court after an active Internet campaign.

“The prosecutors and judges on Prita case only enforced the ‘letter’ [of the law] but neglected its spirit. They did not render proper justice, which is essential,” former Constitutional Court chief Jimly Asshiddiqie said on Twitter.

“Publicize the names of the prosecutors and the judges in the case as examples of law enforcers who are ‘anti-justice’,” Jimly added.

Sharing Jimly’s opinion, National Commission for Human Rights chairman Ifdhal Kasim said, “The ruling was very disappointing.”

“The dimension of public interest was clearly excluded by the court’s consideration. The Supreme Court should have gone through all related legal norms. This sets a bad precedent for the people’s right to express their opinions and might be used to set a precedent in similar cases,” Ifdhal said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

The resurgence of support for Prita was triggered by the Supreme Court’s decision on Friday, upholding an appeal filed by prosecutors to overturn her acquittal.

Supreme Court justice Salman Luthan said Prita had been sentenced to six months in jail if she commits a crime within a year of probation for violating the 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions Law.

“The law must be challenged at the Constitutional Court, or be revised by the House,” Jimly said.

The case started in August 2008, after Prita sent an email to relatives and friends, alleging she received poor medical treatment and customer service at the Omni International Hospital in Tangerang, Banten.

The email went viral as recipients forwarded it to several mailing lists and forums. A month later, the hospital filed civil and criminal lawsuits against Prita, alleging libel.

“Prosecutors should have not filed an appeal in the first place because Prita won the civil lawsuit. I cannot understand their logic,” high-profile lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution said.

While the Supreme Court found Prita guilty in the criminal case, it previously rejected the hospital’s civil lawsuit, which demanded that Prita pay Rp 2 billion (US$236,000) in damages.

Slamet Yuwono, one of Prita’s lawyers, said that the court was “inconsistent” and had made “contradictory rulings”.

Judicial Commission chairman Eman Suparman said the commission would study the ruling to determine if the panel of judges in the case had made any ethical violations.

Another prominent attorney, human rights activist Todung Mulya Lubis, recommended that Prita file a case review as the last resort available in Indonesia’s judicial system to challenge a Supreme Court’s ruling.

Sudaryatmo, an executive at the Indonesian Consumer Foundation (YLKI), said the foundation would send an official letter to the Supreme Court to protest the ruling.

“The courts have become another source of injustice for consumers while they often look very responsive in accommodating businesses.”

Eva Kusuma Sundari, a member of the House of Representatives’ Commission III overseeing law and human rights, said, “I smell something fishy.”

The Jakarta Post
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