RSI welcomes the East Jakarta District Court's decision on On 8 January 2024 to acquit human rights defenders Fatia Maulidiyanti and Haris Azhar, who had previously been charged with defamation of a public official. The Court’s ruling prevents the Indonesian government from using repressive security laws in this case to deter criticism and prevent civil society from fulfilling its democratic function.
In 2008, the Indonesian government passed the Electronic Information and Transactions Law, which criminalises ‘defamation against public officials’. In 2022, the government used this law to accuse human rights activists Fatia Maulidiyanti and Haris Azhar of defamation after they released a YouTube video reporting about allegations that senior Indonesian military figures had connections with the mining industry in West Papua. As RSI has previously reported, the government often uses anti-defamation laws to stifle political dissent and prevent civil society activism. This is even more apparent in West Papua, where government officials often label human rights defenders, indigenous leaders and environmental activists as terrorists or extremists.
We call on the Indonesian government to accept the Court's ruling, stop any pending anti-defamation prosecutions, and scrap these archaic laws.
