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View all search resultsRights groups decry guilty verdict, probation for online critic
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Defendant Laras Faizati Khairunnisa attends a verdict hearing against her on Jan. 15 at the South Jakarta District Court. Judges found Laras guilty of inciting mass violence through her social media post during the nationwide unrest in August 2025, but ordered her to walk free from prison. (Antara/Muhammad Iqbal)
T
he South Jakarta District Court’s decision to convict Laras Faizati Khairunnisa, 26, of incitement while placing her under a year of probation has drawn strong criticism from rights groups, who denounced the ruling as a form of “prison without bars” that undermines freedom of expression.
Laras, who worked as a communications officer for an organization affiliated with the ASEAN secretariat in Jakarta, had been detained since September and was charged over a series of social media posts, including an Instagram story that called on the public to set fire to the National Police headquarters in the capital.
The posts were made amid nationwide protests initially sparked by public outrage over lawmakers’ lavish perks, which later escalated following the killing of a 21-year-old online motorcycle taxi driver who was run over by police driving a tactical vehicle during a crowd dispersal in Jakarta.
In a verdict read out on Thursday, the panel of judges found Laras guilty of violating Article 161 (1) of the Criminal Code (KUHP) for inciting mass violence through her social media posts and sentenced her to six-month imprisonment.
The judges argued that the posts were uploaded “deliberately” at a time when “the public was angry”, describing them as a dangerous act that could threaten public safety.
Despite the conviction, the court ordered Laras’ immediate release and placed her under one year of supervised probation, citing mitigating factors including her role as the family’s main breadwinner and her lack of a prior criminal record.
Read also: Widespread unrest in Indonesia after driver killed by police vehicle
