Although courts have acquitted Prita Mulyasari of all charges in the defamation case brought by Omni International Hospital, the online community is not treating the acquittal as a victory until the government starts reviewing the controversial electronic information and transactions law.
“The government should see the Prita case as evidence that there is a glaring discord between Internet users and policy makers about many [Internet-related] issues in the country,” Enda Nasution, a noted blogger, told The Jakarta Post Tuesday.
“It is important for the government or legislators to clarify the law with the ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ for Internet users so no gray areas pop up should a similar dispute occur.”
Muhammad “Deni” Baiquni, a blogger from Banda Aceh, said he was happy to hear of Prita’s acquittal.
However, Deni, who managed the coin collection for Prita in Banda Aceh, predicted that another Prita case could occur if the government did not immediately evaluate the 2008 Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE) Law.
“Today, bloggers like me have extensively used the Internet as a place to publish and share our criticisms,” Deni, who studies engineering in Syiah Kuala University, said.
“Without clear legal guidelines, bloggers have no choice other than toning down their criticisms.”
Reza Anova, an Internet user and radio station manager in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, said he realized the Prita case was successful in getting people to learn more about their legal rights.
“I met a 9-year-old girl who brought her piggy bank to our radio station and gave us all her savings,” said the father of two who has supported the Coins for Prita movement through broadcasts on his radio station.
Prita, a mother of two, was treated at Omni International Hospital in August last year, where, after blood tests, doctors said she had to be hospitalized.
After her condition did not improve, she sought treatment at another hospital and later sent an email to several friends, describing her hospital experience. Prita was briefly jailed for three weeks following complaints by the hospital. Public outcry forced authorities to reduce her detention to house arrest.
The Prita case came into the media spotlight after Internet users found prosecutors had used a defamation article in the ITE Law and Criminal Code articles on public defamation to arrest her.
The David-and-Goliath battle between the mother of two and the hospital seemed to be over when the court bowed to public pressure and decided to drop all charges against Prita on June 25, when Banten High Court ordered the case be reopened in August because they ruled the court’s verdict failed to cover important aspects of the case.
Omni then filed a civil suit and criminal charges against Prita, accusing her of spreading a false complaint against the hospital.
Prita had earlier lost the civil case and was fined Rp 204 million (US$21,600), but she filed an appeal to the Supreme Court.
As a way to attract the public support for Prita, a group of bloggers and Internet users started a Coins for Prita movement earlier this month. The group collected more than Rp 800 million (US$84,800) in less than a month.
