Photo by Watchdoc Team
Hundred people across from civil society, media and activist join to demonstrate in a front of district court of east Jakarta to give their support to Haris Azhar and Fathia Maulidiyanti verdict reading on Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan in defamation case against both of defendants.
Fatia Maulidiyanti and Haris Azhar, two Indonesia Human Rights Defenders were found not guilty of a defamation trial concerning the evidence-based criticism of a government official on Haris’ YouTube channel, which discussed a research report alleging the involvement of several national and multinational companies in mining operations in Intan Jaya, Papua.
The judges deemed that both defendants were not proven legally and convincingly guilty of committing a criminal act as stipulated in Article 27 (3) and Article 45 (3) of the Electronic Information and Transaction Law (ITE Law) in conjunction with Article 55 (1) of the Criminal Code.
In addition with the liberation of Haris Azhar and Fathia Maulidiyanti, boldly asserts that critique is not a wrongdoing and should not be subject to prosecution. Criticism stands as human rights defenders and citizen’s active engagement to keep a check on power, averting potential conflicts of interest and abuses of authority.