T

he lawyers of Baiq Nuril Maknun are preparing a case review in a legal attempt to challenge a Supreme Court ruling that found the 37-year-old guilty of defaming her former superior by spreading a recording that revealed his identity.

In a controversial verdict that incriminated a victim of alleged sexual harassment, the court ruled on Friday that the former high school teacher must serve a six-month sentence and pay a Rp 500 million (US$33,749) fine for recording and spreading a sordid phone conversation between her and the school’s then-principal, Muslim, in which he allegedly harassed her.

The top court found Nuril guilty of violating Article 27 of the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law despite a lower court having acquitted her.

“We are still in shock right now. We still do not know the considerations of the bench of justices. So we are still waiting for that,” the legal coordinator of Nuril’s legal team, Joko Sumadi told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

The Mataram District Court had previously found Nuril not guilty of the charges in July 2017, but prosecutors later submitted a cassation petition to the Supreme Court.

“Nuril is innocent, she did not spread the recording, she only recorded it. This fact has been proven in the court room,” Joko said.

Joko and his team are currently waiting for the copy of the court’s verdict.

During her trial in 2017, from March to May, Nuril was detained for two and a half months before the Mataram District Court suspended her detention amid public outcry.

“She has been detained for two and a half months. So, if she does not pay the fine, she would receive six and a half months. But if she pays the fine, she would be detained for three and a half months,” Joko added.

Also on Wednesday, Nuril said she hoped that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo would assist in her case.

“Where else can I go? The Supreme Court is the highest court we have in this country. I hope the President will see me, because he is my only chance to change this situation,” Nuril said in her home in Mataram.

Nuril said she was still in shock after hearing the court’s verdict because for her what she did was not wrong.

“I felt criminalized. It wasn’t me who spread the recording. And I kept it on the first time because I needed to protect myself from my former headmaster’s harassment of me,” she said.

But more than anything it was hard for her to explain her situation to her three children. The oldest is in senior high school, while the youngest is only a seven-year-old elementary school student.

Her youngest and middle children will celebrate their birthdays on Nov. 24 and 26.

The ITE Law has been controversial for years, as it has seen people jailed for expressing their opinions, thoughts and complaints on the internet and social media, with violators accused of defamation.

SAFEnet recorded that the law had seen at least 381 people imprisoned since it was first deliberated in 2008, with 90 percent charged with defamation and the rest with hate speech.

In Nuril’s case, the recording, which was spread among the school circle and the local education agency, resulted in Muslim being removed from his job, and prompted him to report her to the police. However, Muslim was later promoted to a position within the local education agency.