The outside world out of Indonesia would probably think, “So what if free speech in Indonesia is dead? Has it not been dead for ages already?” I would say, not really.
I remember the years when I was still in the university in the times of the tyranny of Soeharto. I had friends who were politically very active and vocally speaks out their mind, critizising the government then. At some point they disappeared for a few days. Nobody would know where they’d gone or why they’d not been to classes. But before we even begin to search for them, they’d show up with a completely blank mind. They would sit for hours and hours fixing their eyes on one point in front of them, not saying anything, not responding to anyone.
Then in 1998, they all united and brought the tyranny to an end. Ever since, Jakarta has been a favourite place for protesters to hold demonstrations and speeches in its main streets.
The death of free speech that this article is about, is not caused by politics or the government. It is caused by some businessman in Jakarta. Everyone in Indonesia and Jakarta knows who Prita Mulyasari is. This 32 year old woman had a bad experience with an international hospital in Jakarta and shared this with her friends and families by sending an email.
The email went from one mailing list to the other and fell into the hands of the lawyers of the hospital, Omni International Hospital who then sued her for defamation. The mother of two soon found herself sharing a room in jail with murderers, facing 6 years in prison.
After 21 days in jail, the news media and blogosphere in Indonesia spread the news around about her unjust predicament. Continued support and unending stream of news on TV, radio and the internet forced the authorities to release her from prison. It was then Vice President Yusuf Kalla himself who instructed authorities to give Prita back her freedom.
The lawyers of Omni International won $21,600 in damages after filing a civil lawsuit. Prita Mulayasari’s lawyer is now planning to appeal.
Omni International Hospital belongs to a conglomerate Ongko Group. The owner, Kaharudin Onkowijaya used to be the owner of PT Bank Umum Nasional. In the 2003 case, Kaharudin Ongkowijaya, who was then the Vice Commissioner, was acquitted from a corruption case that cost the government Rp.6.7 trilliun. This verdict was considered strange as the Managing Director of the bank, Leonard Tanibrata was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The same Kaharudin Onkowijaya, through his lawyer wanted to “save” his hospital from defamation. However, by sending Prita Mulyasari to prison because of one single email that she sent to coworkers, family and friends, the news about Omni’s attempt to kill free speech has reached even a wider audience. Prita Mulyasari has now international supporters and symphaty thanks to international news channels and big online news portals, such as the New York Times. Bloggers all over the world and social networks are bashing the hospital and supporting Prita.
In the attempt to save face, Omni International Hospital has now inadvertently managed to draw the worlds’ negative attention to itself. The moral of the story? Trying to kill free speech will backfire!
