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Jailing delayed, Nuril reports former boss for sexual harassment
The Attorney General's Office decided to delay the execution of Nuril's jail sentence and let her file for a case review first.
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Protesters gather in Palembang, South Sumatra, on Sunday in support of Baiq Nuril Makmun, a school teacher from Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, who is facing a six-month jail sentence for defaming her alleged harasser. (Antara/Feny Selly)
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aiq Nuril Maqmun, a 37-year-old teacher in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) who was convicted of defaming a man she accused of sexually harassing her, has reported her former superior to the police for his alleged crime.
Accompanied by her husband Lalu Isnaeni and 15 members of her legal team, she visited the NTB Police’s general crime investigation directorate on Monday, bringing evidence.
Among the evidence submitted was a copy of the Mataram District Court’s ruling that her former boss, M, committed sexual harassment against her.
M was reported for violation of Article 294 (2) (1) of the Criminal Code on officials committing obscene deeds against subordinates or persons under their responsibility. “The penalty carries a maximum seven years' imprisonment,” Joko Dumadi, one of Nuril’s lawyers, said on Monday.
The Supreme Court sentenced Nuril to six months' imprisonment and ordered her to pay a fine of Rp 500 million after finding her guilty of defaming M, who was at the time of the alleged harassment the headmaster of the public high school where she worked.
She was convicted of circulating a recording of a phone call in which M talked about his sexual relations with another woman. She claimed she had only taped the phone call and someone else distributed the recording.
No immediate jail and fine
On Monday, the head of the communications office of the Attorney General's Office, Agung Mukri, said his office would delay Nuril's incarceration and fining. "We've heard the public perception of [a miscarriage of] justice, so we are delaying carrying out the sentence," Mukri said as quoted by Antara.
He said the decision was also in response to a request by Nuril's legal team to delay carrying out the sentence, which was slated for Wednesday. Mukri encouraged the lawyers to quickly file for a case review.
Nuril said she believed the delay was related to the support she got from President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. On Tuesday, she thanked the president for his support. Activists called on Jokowi to give Nuril amnesty but Jokowi, saying he supported Nuril's fight to get justice, instead suggested she file for a case review.
“I can imagine, without the support from all parties, it would surely be very difficult for me to get true justice,” Nuril told the press during a briefing at the Mataram University’s School of Law.
Nuril’s lawyer Hendro Purba said Nuril learned about the delay only from the mass media. He said he would seek confirmation on Wednesday from the Mataram Prosecutors’ Office.
“We will ask for a written statement from the prosecutors’ office on the delay so Nuril will have legal force for it,” he said.
However, the lawyers would not be able to immediately file for a case review by the Supreme Court, he said, because they had not received a copy of the Supreme Court’s ruling, which is required for a case review submission.
