After a long struggle in court, Prita Mulyasari, the defendant in the criminal case on the defamation of Omni International Hospital in Serpong has been declared not guilty by the judge panel of the district court of Tangerang. The email she has sent out to her friends, containing her complaints about how she was poorly treated at the said hospital, did not fulfill the elements of defamation and was found to be letters of criticism. Such criticism, according to the judge panel, was every patient’s right and should have been properly addressed by the hospital. (To read more about her case, click here.)
The verdict itself ruled that Prita Mulyasari has been found not guilty for defamation. Secondly, it ruled to dismiss all charges brought against her by the district attorney. Thirdly, this verdict cleared her name and rehabilitated her dignity. Fourthly, the evidence brought to trial is confiscated and the case costs is burdened to the state.
This verdict was warmly welcomed by the spectators of the trial, and of course by Prita herself. She promptly thanked the judge for having acquitted her. Her legal counsel expressed his satisfaction with the verdict and mentioned that with this verdict, they may file a lawsuit against the hospital for an amount of one trilion rupiah (approximately one billion US dollars). However, he also stated if the hospital is willing to publicly convey its apologies to his client, they will not press charges.
During her trial, Prita received massive support from various groups, including the human rights commission, judicial commission, political parties and the blogger as well as social media community. On Facebook, a group called ‘Koin Peduli Prita’ (Coins for Prita Mulyasari) has more than 66,000 members, a fan page of the same title has almost 10,000 fans, while a cause (an application on Facebook) to support her is joined by almost 400,000 members.
Unfortunately, this struggle may not yet be over as the district attorney stated that he will move to review this verdict. If the motion to review is granted, Prita may still be looking at another day in court.
