H

ousewife Prita Mulyasari has resigned herself to the possibility of once again being sent to prison after the Supreme Court announced Friday that it had sentenced her to a six months in prison sentence for slandering a private hospital in Tangerang, Banten.

“This is going to be a tribulation, again, for me during the next Ramadhan fasting month. But I do hope that I won’t have to spend more time in jail,” Prita told reporters at her home in Tangerang.

Prita once spent 23 days in police detention, from May 13 to June 3, 2009, soon after she was named a suspect in a defamation case filed by Omni Hospital.

The Supreme Court announced Friday that it had sentenced her to six months’ imprisonment for distributing what was deemed a slanderous email against a private hospital.

Justice Salman Luthan, who was one of the judges for Prita’s appellate court case, said that the bench had approved the demand by the Tangerang Prosecutor’s Office — the same demand that had been ruled out by previous court judgments.

Prita said that she was concerned about the well-being of her three children if she had to spend time in jail.

“How can I be separated from them? My youngest is not yet a year old,” Prita said.

Tangerang Prosecutors Office head Chaerul Amir said that the time Prita had previously spent in police detention would be deducted from the 6-month jail term handed down by the Supreme Court.

“She would spend the remainder of her time in detention,” he said.

Chaerul said that the Prosecutors Office would immediately send Prita to jail after it received a copy of the verdict from the Supreme Court.

The Tangerang District Court ruled in favor of the hospital in the civil lawsuit in May 2009, requiring Prita to pay Rp 340 million (US$40,120) to the hospital.

The prosecution of Prita provoked public outcry.

The outburst of public support through mailing lists and Facebook led to the “Coins for Prita” movement to help her pay the damages through donations. The public managed to collect more than Rp 800 million, which Prita gave to a non-profit cause. (fem)