ASEAN Regional Coalition to #StopDigitalDictatorship
March 2020 saw the prosecution of Mohamad
Article 310(1) of the Criminal Code and Article
Sadli, chief editor of online news outlet Liputan
27(3) of the ITE Law on allegations of defamation
Persada. Sadli was charged with hate speech
against Maybank Indonesia after a speech he
and defamation, and sentenced to two years
had delivered while protesting against the bank
for an opinion piece he wrote which criticised
appeared in an online news article.66 The same
a road construction project backed by the local
two laws were used against HRDs Haris Azhar and
government.
Just less than a month later,
Fatia Maulidiyanti, both of whom were subpoenaed
Saiful Mahdi, a university lecturer at Syiah Kuala
by Minister for Maritime Coordination Luhut Binsar
University in Banda Aceh, was handed a three-
Panjaitan and threatened with a lawsuit in August
month sentence and fined IDR 10 million ($668)
2021. The case emerged following a talk show
under Article 27(3) of the ITE Law for his WhatsApp
featured on Azhar’s YouTube channel titled “Ada
messages criticising the university policy on staff
Lord Luhut di balik Relasi Ekonomi-Ops Militer
recruitment. The Supreme Court upheld his guilty
Intan Jaya!! Jenderal BIN juga Ada!!” (There
verdict on June 29, 2021 and Mahdi began to
is Lord Luhut behind the relation of Economy-
serve his time in September.
Military Operation Intan Jaya!! The General of
60
61
He was granted
a presidential pardon after one month.
Article
State Intelligence Agency is also there!!) in which
27(3) of the ITE Law was also used against activist
he and Maulidiyanti discussed findings in a multi-
and urban planning expert Marco Kusumawijaya
stakeholder report revealing the involvement
in February 2021. He was accused of defamation
of Indonesian army officials and retirees in an
after posting on Twitter that a residential area
extractive gold mining project in Papua.67 On Sept.
in North Jakarta looted sand from the shores
22, the Minister filed a complaint against both
of Bangka Belitung, his hometown, during its
persons and demanded each to pay him IDR 100
development phase.
His case was closed. In
billion ($7 million) in compensation.68 On Jan. 18,
October 2021, Marco posted screenshots of a
2022, they were summoned for questioning by the
Google alert he received showing that potential
Greater Jakarta Police Department, where they had
government-backed attackers were attempting to
to answer a total of 37 questions on the details of
hack his email account.
the case and their activism over six hours.69 By
63
62
64
Another example is the case of Alvoaria Reba,
a Papuan activist behind “Qvarica,” a Facebook
account associated with the Free Papua Movement.
In April 2020, she was sued by the West Papua
Provincial Government’s legal team for having
allegedly insulted the Governor of West Papua on
social media. The allegation stemmed from a post
in which she expressed her disagreement with the
closure of Rendani Manokwari Airport. She now
faces defamation charges carrying a maximum
sentence of four years and/or a fine of up to IDR
750 million ($50,163).65
In April 2021, a labour union leader by the name
of Stevanus Mimosa Kristianto was charged under
Indonesia
March 18, they were officially named suspects and
as of March 2023, they face defamation charges
which could lead to imprisonment for up to four
years if convicted.70 Since April 3, 2023, Fatia and
Haris have undergone 31 hearings. On November
12, during the indictment reading at the 28th
hearing, the lead prosecutor recommended a
three-year and six-month prison sentence for Fatia,
along with a fine of IDR 500,000 ($32).71 For Haris,
the prosecutor advised a four-year prison term,
accompanied by a fine of one million rupiah ($65).
It’s noteworthy that the latter penalty represents
the maximum punishment stipulated under the
ITE law. The adjudication of the final judgement
is scheduled to take place in the second week of
January 2024.72
89