Dessy Sagita
Prita Mulyasari (Photo courtesy of Prita Mulyasari)
16,000 Join Web Fight for Jailed Mother
More than 16,000 people have joined an online support group on Facebook for a mother currently in prison for a "defamatory" e-mail she sent out about the standard of care in an exclusive Tangerang hospital.
The plight of 32-year-old Prita Mulyasari, who has two children, has also caught the attention of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and nongovermental organizations like the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) and the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI).
In a statement released on Monday, the PBHI demanded that the Tangerang District Court, which ruled against Prita in a civil case last month and ordered she be taken into custody pending a criminal hearing this week, reverse its decision and free her.
It also demanded that the House of Representatives and the Constitutional Court revise the Criminal Code's defamation section because it was frequently used to restrict free speech.
"Prita was shocked because she never thought this case would have the ramifications it did, believing that she was just sharing her thoughts with her friends," her sister Carolina Siswo Pratiwi told the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday.
Prita was taken into custody on May 13 after losing a civil case brought by the Omni International Hospital in Banten. She could face a six-year prison sentence and a Rp 1 billion ($98,000) fine if found guilty in a criminal trial.
The case began in August 2008 when Prita wrote an e-mail detailing her experience as a patient at Omni to 10 friends. The note quickly spread before the hospital found out about it.
Prita wrote that Omni staff first diagnosed her with dengue fever, but later said that she had a virus and gave her an injection.
She said her condition then worsened and she began to feel numbness. She decided to switch hospitals and asked Omni to provide her with the original diagnosis. The hospital, however, refused, saying that it was not part of her official medical history.
Prita alleged "fraud" on the part of the hospital because of the withheld diagnosis.
Andri Nugraha, Prita's husband, said that she sometimes lapsed into depression because of her confinement in Tangerang Prison and her separation from her two young children.
"I can't thank you and everyone else enough, especially the nongovernmental organizations for giving their support," he said, adding that his family had met with Komnas HAM ahead of Prita's scheduled appearance in court on Thursday.
Komnas HAM commissioner Nurkholis said that Prita's case could set a terrible legal precedent and endanger free speech.
"First things first: we need to get her out of jail because her children need her," he said after visiting Prita at the prison.
Nurkholis said Omni should have limited its legal action to civil court. "We can't really interfere with the civil case, but taking it into criminal territory is exaggerating matters," he said.
Omni's lawyer, Heribertus Hartojo, alleged that Prita's e-mail had caused the firm substantial financial losses from patient boycotts and frozen business deals.
Heribertus said that Omni had tried to settle the case out of court by asking Prita to publicly apologize and drop her demand for the original diagnosis, but no agreement was reached.
"The family insisted on their stance [against apologizing] and was not cooperative," he said.
Andri, however, denied this.
"We never wanted to do this the hard way and we never intended to report the case as malpractice," he said. "We always hoped Omni would settle the case outside of court, but they don't seem to be interested."