M

ade Sudira, a Balinese cultural critic and columnist with the Bali Post, has won a legal challenge against the Bali Police’s decision to charge him with defamation and hate speech for allegedly insulting Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika on his Facebook page.

The Denpasar District Court on Monday ruled in favor of Sudira, also known as Aridus Jiro, saying that the police’s decision to name him a suspect was illegitimate.

Presiding judge Ketut Suwarta argued that Sudira’s Facebook post did not contain hate speech or insults. “The naming of [Sudira] as a suspect based on his Facebook post is therefore illegal,” he said.

The police had accused Sudira of violating Article 27 on defamation and Article 28 on hate speech in the 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law for his comment about a Hindu ritual posted on his Facebook page in July.

Sudira wrote: “This morning after the megobedan or mesangih rituals, in the house of each participant, or in the Payadnyaan, people will hold the ngangget don bingin ritual. Unfortunately, the ritual can no longer be held at its usual place as the sacred banyan tree has been cut down, its leaves and branches. I don’t know what happened. Some people say that the important people [in Bali] do not want to be disturbed. Is that true? Is this the state of Bali now?”

The ngangget don bingin ritual is part of the Balinese post cremation ritual. The ritual includes taking leaves and branches from a sacred banyan tree to be used for other parts of the post cremation ceremony.

Sudira apparently aimed to criticize the governor’s decision to trim the banyan tree in his official residence, which has been the location for the ngangget don bingin ritual for many years.

The post stung Pastika, who later ordered his subordinate to report the columnist to the police for defamation and hate speech.

Backed by at least 82 lawyers who called themselves Satu Aksi, Sudira then challenged the police’s move to name him a suspect.

Judge Suwarta said the case could be settled by an apology or a demand for clarification.

Sudira’s lawyer, Valerian Libert Wangge, welcomed the court’s ruling, saying that it sided with freedom. “We applaud the judge for his decision,” he said.

Made Parwata, a member of the police’s legal team, said he respected the court’s decision.

Sudira is one of many people facing charges for social media posts following the enactment of the 2008 ITE Law, which is considered by some to be a draconian law. Politicians frequently use the law to silence their critics.

A civil servant at the Gorontalo regency administration, identified as ML, has been reported to the police for allegedly defaming local councillors on his Facebook page.

The man, who is a Gorontalo regency Taruna emergency disaster team member, has also been punished by the local administration.

The case began when ML said a certain councillor was responsible for the sluggish distribution of aid to flood victims. It is believed that he was referring to Sahmid Hemu, the Gorontalo regional council speaker.

The Limboto Police said they had not yet named any suspects in the case. “We’re in the investigation stage and ML’s status is still that of a witness and we will question him,” said Limboto Police detective chief Adj. Comr. Dedy Supriyatno.

A similar case has also arisen in Makassar where a housewife is now standing trial for allegedly defaming a local councillor.

In Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), NTB Police chief Brig. Gen. Umar Septono urged the community to be careful and wise when using social media, especially following the recent revision to the 2008 ITE Law.

“Social media users in NTB should not be provoked or share dubious news,” said Umar at the headquarters of the NTB Police in Mataram on Tuesday.

Syamsul Huda M. Suhari and Panca Nugraha contributed to this story from Gorontalo and Mataram.