Justice denied

The ruling on Tuesday by a Central Java district court to acquit controversial businessman and Muslim cleric Pujiono of child sexual abuse charges was none other than adding insult to the Indonesian justice system.

It is undeniable that the underage girl, 12-year-old Lutfiana, repeatedly showed, in public, her happiness at being Pujiono's second wife and never complained of being put under pressure prior to her marriage with him in August 2008.

But marrying an underage girl is considered as a pedophilic act and obviously violates the 2002 Law on Child Protection, which comprehensively stipulates freedom for every Indonesian child to express and explore him or herself. The act further contradicts the 1974 Law on Marriage, which strictly limits men's freedom to marry more than one woman and prohibits them from marrying underage girls.

The judges' decision to acquit Pujiono was indeed controversial and denigrated the rights of every Indonesian child as guaranteed in the 2002 child protection law and article 7 of the 1974 marriage law, which specifically sets the minimum age of marriage at 16 years old.

It is true the 1974 law also regulates conditions that allow a man to marry an underage girl, but the court judges might have forgotten (or neglected) to also consider article 4(c) of the same 1974 law that allows a man to have more than one wife only if his first wife could not give him a child. The judges should not have acquitted Pujiono as the latter apparently has two children from his previous marriage.

Theruling also sets a bad precedence for the future as it will encourage more Indonesian men to marry underage girls as they will hide behind the "jurisprudence" that the Central Java court judges have established in Pujiono's case.

Yes, the legal battle is not over yet as there is still room for appeal. Hopefully, judges of the court of appeal will not repeat the same mistake of those of the Central Java court.