Lokataru Foundation executive director Haris Azhar (right) and former Kontras coordinator Fatia Maulidiyanti (left) greeting their supporters at the East Jakarta District Court on Jan 8, 2024, after the were acquitted on all counts of defaming senior cabinet minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan in a YouTube video. - Antara
JAKARTA: Rights groups have applauded the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the acquittal of activists Haris Azhar and Fatia Maulidiyanti, who had faced charges of defaming senior cabinet minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, welcoming the ruling as a boon to freedom of expression in the country.
In 2021, the coordinating maritime affairs and investment minister reported Haris and Fatia for defamation and spreading misinformation after they made comments in a YouTube video about Luhut’s alleged involvement in extractive mining in Papua and called the senior minister “lord”.
Prosecutors charged both Haris and Fatia with defamation under the controversial Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law.
The two activists were tried at the East Jakarta District Court, with prosecutors demanding a four-year prison sentence and a Rp 1 million (US$66.21) fine for Haris, the executive director of human rights watchdog the Lokataru Foundation, and a three-and-a-half year sentence and a Rp 500,000 fine for Fatia, coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS).
The panel of judges at the East Jakarta District Court cleared the activists of all charges in January of this year, stating that their comments did not constitute criminal defamation. The judges noted that the term “lord” had been widely used by the public before in reference to the minister’s high position in the government.
Haris and Fatia were also cleared of spreading misinformation as they had cited research by a number of civil society groups.
Following the district court’s ruling, the Attorney General's Office (AGO) appealed the activists’ acquittal, but the Supreme Court upheld the lower courts’ rulings on Sept 11, according to a KontraS statement released on Wednesday.
Lasma Natalia of the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL) commended the Supreme Court for "upholding the freedom of thought, speech and expression" in the country through the ruling.
"It's also important that all courts across the archipelago follow the Supreme Court’s lead in handling similar cases," Lasma told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
"I also hope that, in the future, police officers will refrain from processing cases that seek to criminalize environment and human rights defenders, to prevent activists from facing detainment and long, expensive legal battles.” Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM) executive director Wahyudi Djafar said the court had successfully carried out its duty as “the last guardian of human rights” amid shrinking civic space in the country.
“The court is the public's only hope to defend their rights of expression, particularly amid regression in the country’s democracy and civil liberties in recent years,” Wahyudi said, adding that the case should serve as an impetus to reevaluate the provisions in the ITE Law that were frequently used by corporations and powerful figures to stifle critical voices and retaliate against activists.
KontraS, which represented Fatia and Haris in the trial, concurred, saying the ruling had sparked hope for all human and environmental rights defenders in the country.
“Every citizen has the right to criticise public officials without fear of criminalisation,” the group wrote.
It also underlined the importance of the anti-strategic lawsuit against public participation (anti-SLAPP) policy in Indonesia's judicial system in protecting activists from unjustified and punitive legal action.
According to data from Amnesty Indonesia, at least 535 people, including human rights defenders, journalists and academics, were charged under the ITE Law from 2019 to 2023, with a total of 504 cases.
Environmental group Auriga Nusantara said Indonesia had seen a significant increase in SLAPP cases against environmental defenders in the past five years, from eight in 2019 to 30 recorded last year.
In April, environmentalist Daniel Frits Maurits Tangkilisan was sentenced to seven months in prison and ordered to pay a Rp 5 million fine after he was found guilty of "spreading hate speech online" for opposing shrimp farming in the Karimunjawa Islands.
He appealed the ruling and was eventually cleared of all charges in May.
Amid increasing legal action against activists in the country, authorities have formulated measures to better protect rights defenders from unjustified lawsuits.
Last year, the Supreme Court issued an anti-SLAPP regulation to guide lower courts in handling environmental cases.
The new rule seeks to offer legal protection for environmental defenders, who are often silenced with charges of hate speech, false news or online defamation.
Earlier this month, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar issued another anti-SLAPP regulation that outlines policies to prevent and handle retaliation against environmental activists, including physical or verbal intimidation, legal notices and subpoenas and lawsuits. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
