• Remove clauses on defamation in the criminal code as it is often misused to silence the right to speak
• Prita Mulyasari’s complaint towards Omni International Hospital cannot be charged with Clause No. 27 item (3) of the Information and Electronic Transaction Law
• Prita Mulyasari’s complaint is secured by Law No. 8 Year 1999 on Consumers’ Rights
• Omni International Hospital should use its RIGHT TO ANSWER, and not prosecute Prita Mulyasari with criminal and civil action for complaints made in mailing lists and letters to editors.
Prita Mulyasari is a 32-year old mother of two who was charged for defamation of the Omni International Hospital in Alam Sutra, Serpong, Tangerang, West Java, Indonesia. She has been in detained in the Tangerang Women’s Penitentiary since May 13, 2009, and is facing a maximum six years of jail time or Rp 1 billion (about US$100,000).
She had written an email to a mailing list complaining about the service that the hospital gave while she was ill in August last year. In the email she gave a chronology of the service provided her by the hospital, and that she had sent a written complaint to the Omni Hospital Management and was received by a Customer Service Coordinator. However instead of providing Prita with a complaints receipt, the Customer Service Coordinator gave her a suggestion receipt.
Her email was forwarded by friends to other mailing lists and addresses and caught the attention of the hospital. The hospital then wrote a reply and took out an ad in the local newspaper. Later, it charged Prita with defamation.
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