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Jakarta Post

Supreme Court acquits Facebook user in Indonesia

Praising the court’s verdict, the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet) said on Thursday that the Supreme Court had brought justice to Wisni Yetti.

News Desk (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Fri, February 22, 2019

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Supreme Court acquits Facebook user in Indonesia An illustration of Facebook app on a mobile phone (Shutterstock/mirtmirt)

T

he Supreme Court acquitted on Tuesday Wisni Yetti, a housewife who was sued by her ex-husband for defamation, of all charges in a case related to her Facebook chat.

The Bandung District Court sentenced Wisni to five months in jail in 2015 after she was found guilty of violating the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law because of a private conversation she had with her high school friend Nugraha.

Praising the court’s verdict, the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet) said on Thursday that the Supreme Court had brought justice to Wisni.

“We appreciate the court’s ruling. Wisni’s case has shown that women can become victims on the internet. She is a victim of domestic violence, cybercrime and violation against privacy, and information technology was misused to send her to jail,” SAFEnet activist Ellen Kusuma said in a statement.

The case started on February 17, 2014, when Wisni’s ex-husband Hasta Etika filed a police report that included a printout of a private Facebook conversation between Wisni and Nugraha. Wisni was arrested in her hometown in West Sumatra on February 19, 2014, and taken to Bandung, West Java, for the investigation process. She was detained by the West Java Police.

According to SAFEnet, Wisni reported her then-husband in 2013 over domestic violence that she had allegedly been subject to since 1994.

However, the husband reported her in response after he breached her Facebook account, accusing her of cheating with Nugraha.

“We should notice here that in Wisni’s case, Hasta can also be charged with violating privacy,” Ellen said.

After the Bandung court’s verdict, Wisni filed an appeal with the West Java High Court, which then ruled to set her free. However, prosecutors filed a cassation appeal with the Supreme Court in 2016.

The court’s ruling on Tuesday likely marks the end to the case.

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