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Prita: I will appeal to the Supreme Court

Prita Mulyasari said she will take her appeal to the Supreme Court following a high court decision finding her guilty and instructing her to pay Rp 204 million (US$ 21,640) in damages

(The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Fri, December 4, 2009

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Prita: I will appeal to the Supreme Court

P

rita Mulyasari said she will take her appeal to the Supreme Court following a high court decision finding her guilty and instructing her to pay Rp 204 million (US$ 21,640) in damages.

Prita's civil trial, held in the Banten High Court, decided Wednesday that Prita, the housewife who complained about Omni International Hospital's poor services through her blog, was guilty of defamation and fined her Rp 204 million.

"I do not agree with the court ruling, but it happened anyway. We will just continue our fight," she told news portal vivanews.com.

The mother of two said she could not afford to pay the damages imposed by the court.

"That is an enormous amount for me," she told news portal tempointeraktif.com.

Prita said apart from paying the fine, the court also demanded she publicly apologize.

Omni International Hospital, an upscale hospital in Tangerang, had filed a civil and criminal suit against Prita. Prita is charged with defamation and violating the law on electronic information transaction.

"Whether Prita is actually guilty of violating the defamation law can only be determined in the criminal, not civil, trial. The criminal trial is not over yet, therefore the civil trial cannot find her guilty," O.C. Kaligis, the leader of Prita's defense team, said.

The criminal trial, which is being held in the Tangerang District Court, is still ongoing. The prosecutor in the criminal trial is seeking a 6-month prison sentence for Prita.

Prita expressed hope the judges in the criminal trial would not also find her guilty.

"I hope the judges follow their true conscience," she said.

Kaligis insisted Prita was not guilty since she was only expressing her opinion to her friends. He said her case was an example of the oppression of powerless people.

"When businessman Tommy Winata *of Artha Graha Group* sued Tempo magazine in 2003 for publishing articles against him, the magazine eventually won. When Omni sues Prita for sending e-mail to her friends, she loses. Prita does not have the power to defend herself, that is why she keeps on losing," he added.

"She has suffered enough. How can the hospital keep on attacking her?" Kaligis said.

A lawyer for Omni Hospital, Risma Situmorang, denied claims the hospital wanted to attack Prita.

"Omni has always been open to a peaceful settlement. What the hospital wants is just a sincere apology from Prita," Risma said.

"You can take my word for it, if Prita is willing to apologize, she will not have to pay anything. But if she wants to file an appeal than we will continue to fight her," she added.

"I sympathize with Prita's pain but Dr. Hengky Gosal and Dr. Grace, who treated her when she was in Omni, have also suffered much. Due to Prita's statements, many people have been unwilling to be treated in Omni, let alone be treated by Dr. Hengky and Dr. Grace," she said.

Risma said she had continually asked Prita and her family to settle the problem outside the court.

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