Baiq Nuril Maknun is not the first — and may not be the last — Indonesian to fall victim to the country’s draconian cyber law, yet she is undoubtedly the first person convicted of defamation on course to being freed by the President.

The West Nusa Tenggara woman will also become the first nonpolitical convict in the country’s history to receive amnesty, which is expected to be handed down by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo through a presidential decree.

The House of Representatives has given a nod for the President to grant amnesty to Nuril, a former high school employee sentenced to six months behind bars for defaming her alleged sexual abuser, in a unanimous decision made during a plenary session on Thursday.

The plenary concurred with the stance of House Commission III overseeing legal affairs, which agreed by acclamation to recommend that Jokowi free Nuril from her conviction.

“Baiq Nuril Maknun is a victim of verbal violence. What she did was protect herself from further psychological or sexual harassment,” Commission III deputy chairperson Erma Suryani Ranik said during the plenary meeting.

The House’s approval followed a letter sent last week by Jokowi, in which the President asked the legislative body to consider the plan to grant Nuril amnesty as her punishment had elicited sympathy from the public.

Article 14 of the 1945 Constitution states that the President must take into account the consideration of the House when granting amnesty, which removes all legal consequences for someone convicted of a crime.

Nuril, who was present during the plenary hearing, shed tears while expressing her gratitude upon the House’s approval.

Speaking to reporters, the 42-year-old mother of three said she hoped all victims of sexual harassment would stand up for themselves.

“Don’t give your [sexual] harasser a second chance to repeat their crime,” she said.

Nuril was convicted of defamation after being accused of circulating a recording of a reportedly lewd phone call between her and Muslim, her former boss and then-principal of SMA 7 Mataram state senior high school, where she was an administrative staff member.

Presidential amnesty was Nuril’s last hope as she had exhausted all legal avenues available to her after the Supreme Court rejected her petition for a case review challenging the court’s earlier ruling that found Nuril guilty of defamation.

The court overturned in September last year a lower court’s not guilty verdict and sentenced her to six months’ imprisonment for violating Article 27 of the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law and fined her Rp 500 million (US$35,774).

Last week, Nuril visited the Presidential Palace and met with Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko to hand him a letter for Jokowi, in which she described her struggle for freedom and that amnesty from the President was her only way to be freed.

Presidential amnesty is very loosely regulated in Indonesian law and mentioned only in Article 14 of the Constitution.

Amnesty had previously only been granted to political prisoners and members of rebel groups who had surrendered. However, there is no law or regulation limiting it to that usage.

In response to the House’s approval, Moeldoko said on Thursday that the State Palace would proceed with the required documents to grant Nuril amnesty. “It could be [in the form of a presidential decree],” he said.

Human rights activists have lauded the House’s decision and urged the President to immediately issue the amnesty, with rights group Amnesty International saying that it would be a historic victory for victims of sexual harassment in Indonesia.

“To formally grant [Nuril] amnesty would send a strong message to the police, prosecutors and courts that in the future, they should protect victims of sexual harassment instead of criminalizing and sending them to jail,” Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid said.

Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet) coordinator Damar Juniarto said amnesty could be the “answer to the prayers of sexual abuse victims in the country who had been longing for justice”.

Usman went on to renew calls for a “radical” revision of the ITE Law, which has been repeatedly criticized for being used to silence critics, especially on provisions related to defamation and blasphemy.

“Nuril’s amnesty could become a victory for women — and for freedom of expression,” he said.

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