The Tangeran District Court will decide whether to continue
the trial of Prita Mulyasari, who is facing libel charges for complaining about
the Omini International Hostpital in a widely circulated email last August, at
a session to begin at 9 a.m. on Thursday.
Prita is facing a maximum of six years imprisonment and fines of Rp 1 billion
(US$ 100,000) for complaining about the Omni International Hospital in Alam
Sutera, Tangerang, which has seen her spend the past three weeks in jail.
State prosecutors have so far rejected Prita's objections to the charges.
Prita is planning to file a counter-lawsuit against the hospital, claiming it lacked
good intentions and does not want to withdraw its criminal or civic legal cases
against her.
In a September 2008 civil lawsuit the court ordered her to pay Rp 50 million
(US$4,700) of the Rp 400 million compensation demanded by the hospital, as well
as make a public apology in two print media outlets.
Prita's case has brought an outpouring of public support; 340,000 people are
members of a Facebook support group. (dre)
