Prita Mulyasari is an Indonesian housewife and mother of two who in 2008 was a patient at Omni International Hospital in Tangerang, Banten, west of Jakarta, for an illness that was misdiagnosed as dengue fever, whereas she actually had mumps.[1] Her complaints about her misdiagnosis started as a private email that went viral and she was jailed after losing a civil defamation suit taken by the hospital in 2009.
The case highlighted the over-reaction of Indonesian prosecutors when presented with cases being pursued by influential individuals and companies.[2] Due to the proximity of the presidential elections in July 2009, the various candidates either visited Prita Mulyasari in jail or publicly commented on the case.[1][3][4]
Support from a group on MySpace attracted considerable support[5] as well as Indonesian blog sites.[6][7][8][9]
The case brought attention to clauses of the Indonesian Information and Electronic Transaction Law which are currently being challenged and questioned as a result of Prita Mulyasari's case.[6]
Prita was fined Rp204 million (US$20,500), causing support for her to grow stronger. A mailing list and Facebook group called "KOIN UNTUK PRITA" (English: "Coin for Prita")[10] started raising money from people throughout Indonesia. People started collecting coins to help Prita to pay the fine.[11][12] Seeing the huge support for Prita, Omni International Hospital dropped the civil lawsuit.
The Supreme Court of Indonesia in June 2012 overturned Prita's conviction and jail sentence.[13]
Notes
edit- ^ a b Fitzpatrick, Stephen Jail for email exposes law's heavy hand The Australian June 6–7, page 14
- ^ "Blame game starts over misuse of law in Prita Mulyasari case - Fri, June 5 2009 - The Jakarta Post".
- ^ Herald Sun Archived 2012-09-08 at archive.today
- ^ "Allvoices.com - Prita Mulyasari cases a good issue to gain supp..." www.allvoices.com. Archived from the original on 2009-06-11.
- ^ Mendhoan myspace.com Archived 2009-06-05 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b "Prita Mulyasari: The fuss and the fury (Of the onliners)". Unspun. 3 June 2009.
- ^ "Indonesia: Jailed for Complaining". 31 May 2009.
- ^ "Bebaskan Ibu Prita Mulyasari!". ibuprita.suatuhari.com. Archived from the original on 2009-06-15.
- ^ "手机购彩快三(中国)责任有限公司". Archived from the original on 2012-02-26. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
- ^ "Log in or sign up to view". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 21 December 2023. [user-generated source]
- ^ "Coins for Prita | the Jakarta Post". Archived from the original on 2009-12-13. Retrieved 2009-12-16.
- ^ "Coins for Prita Reach Rp 195m and Counting as Donation Deadline Approaches | the Jakarta Globe". Archived from the original on 2011-06-13. Retrieved 2009-12-16.
- ^ "Supreme Court Declared Prita Mulyasari Not Guilty as Charged". 19 September 2012. HukumOnline.com. Archived from the original on 2 March 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2013.