The Jakarta Globe, 3 December 2009
Despite the public backlash against the Tangerang District Court for finding Prita Mulyasari guilty in a civil suit filed by an upscale hospital, the Banten High Court has upheld the ruling and instructed the mother of two to pay Rp 204 million ($21,600) in damages, her lawyer said on Wednesday.
“The district court ordered Prita to pay Rp 312 million. The High Court ordered her to pay a lesser fine. I have not received a copy of the verdict. As soon as we receive it, we will appeal to the Supreme Court,” lawyer Slamet Yuwono told the Jakarta Globe, hours after he appeared at the Tangerang District Court to defend the 32-year-old Prita in a separate criminal defamation trial over the same case.
The controversial case stems from Prita’s e-mail complaint in 2008 to friends about the care she received at Omni International Hospital. The case sparked public outrage and a media frenzy when Prita was taken into custody in May after the Tangerang District Court ruled against her in the civil lawsuit, ahead of a criminal trial.
She spent three weeks in jail until the public outcry led prosecutors to release her. Though the district court threw out the original criminal case, prosecutors refiled the charges.
The Banten High Court sided with the prosecutors and ordered the Tangerang District Court to retry the criminal case, for which Prita could face six months in jail if convicted.
During Wednesday’s trial in the criminal case, Slamet argued that Prita’s e-mail only became public knowledge when the doctors she had complained about wrote letters to the editors at two national dailies.
“The e-mail was, in fact sent to just 20 people. It became widespread public knowledge only after the doctors themselves placed an open letter of complaint in two national newspapers,” Slamet said during the hearing. “The prosecution has failed to prove that it was Prita who had attracted widespread attention to the case via her e-mail complaint.”
The criminal defamation suit was filed by doctors Hengky Gosal and Grace Hilza Yarlen Nela of Omni hospital.
Prita maintains that she never violated the law and demanded the panel of judges acquit her of all charges.
Slamet also noted that instead of seizing Prita’s computer as evidence, police and prosecutors had used a copy of the e-mail complaint as evidence.
“The kind of evidence is not valid because it doesn’t represent the original e-mail,” Slamet said. “They got the copies from the doctors who brought the case to police. The copies could have been modified.”
The defense team also highlighted an attempt by prosecutors to charge Prita under the Electronic Information and Transaction Law, which carries a maximum sentence of six years in jail, thus allowing prosecutors to detain Prita ahead of her trial.
“Because of the additional charges, Prita was detained for three weeks. We want the judges to remember that,” said Slamet, explaining that initially police only used defamation articles from the Criminal Code.
“And above all that, Prita was a patient who had the right to complain about any bad treatment she may have received from the hospital. Her rights are protected by consumer laws. Her e-mail has nothing to do with breaking the law, especially as it tells the facts.”
Source: The Jakarta Globe
Despite the public backlash against the Tangerang District Court for finding Prita Mulyasari guilty in a civil suit filed by an upscale hospital, the Banten High Court has upheld the ruling and instructed the mother of two to pay Rp 204 million ($21,600) in damages, her lawyer said on Wednesday.
“The district court ordered Prita to pay Rp 312 million. The High Court ordered her to pay a lesser fine. I have not received a copy of the verdict. As soon as we receive it, we will appeal to the Supreme Court,” lawyer Slamet Yuwono told the Jakarta Globe, hours after he appeared at the Tangerang District Court to defend the 32-year-old Prita in a separate criminal defamation trial over the same case.
The controversial case stems from Prita’s e-mail complaint in 2008 to friends about the care she received at Omni International Hospital. The case sparked public outrage and a media frenzy when Prita was taken into custody in May after the Tangerang District Court ruled against her in the civil lawsuit, ahead of a criminal trial.
She spent three weeks in jail until the public outcry led prosecutors to release her. Though the district court threw out the original criminal case, prosecutors refiled the charges.
The Banten High Court sided with the prosecutors and ordered the Tangerang District Court to retry the criminal case, for which Prita could face six months in jail if convicted.
During Wednesday’s trial in the criminal case, Slamet argued that Prita’s e-mail only became public knowledge when the doctors she had complained about wrote letters to the editors at two national dailies.
“The e-mail was, in fact sent to just 20 people. It became widespread public knowledge only after the doctors themselves placed an open letter of complaint in two national newspapers,” Slamet said during the hearing. “The prosecution has failed to prove that it was Prita who had attracted widespread attention to the case via her e-mail complaint.”
The criminal defamation suit was filed by doctors Hengky Gosal and Grace Hilza Yarlen Nela of Omni hospital.
Prita maintains that she never violated the law and demanded the panel of judges acquit her of all charges.
Slamet also noted that instead of seizing Prita’s computer as evidence, police and prosecutors had used a copy of the e-mail complaint as evidence.
“The kind of evidence is not valid because it doesn’t represent the original e-mail,” Slamet said. “They got the copies from the doctors who brought the case to police. The copies could have been modified.”
The defense team also highlighted an attempt by prosecutors to charge Prita under the Electronic Information and Transaction Law, which carries a maximum sentence of six years in jail, thus allowing prosecutors to detain Prita ahead of her trial.
“Because of the additional charges, Prita was detained for three weeks. We want the judges to remember that,” said Slamet, explaining that initially police only used defamation articles from the Criminal Code.
“And above all that, Prita was a patient who had the right to complain about any bad treatment she may have received from the hospital. Her rights are protected by consumer laws. Her e-mail has nothing to do with breaking the law, especially as it tells the facts.”
Source: The Jakarta Globe
