First warning:
In Indonesia, fitnah, or in English “libel” if written or “slander” if verbal,
is a crime punishable by imprisonment. Police and courts often apply a low threshold
of evidence.
As an example, in one well known case in 2009, a young mother named Prita, with
two young children at home, was imprisoned for writing in private emails to friends
that she had received “unprofessional service” at a large Jakarta hospital. Now if Prita
had written “it seemed to me unprofessional” or “I suspect the service was unprofessional”
she might have gotten away with it. But she stated as a bare fact that the service
was unprofessional, and that was a charge that she, not being a doctor, could not
prove. (See Prita Cites ‘Right To Criticize’ as Defense Attacks and Indonesian Law Forbids Criticism of Corruption to Hospital Service)
If you have a big mouth, be careful. Expatriates tend to spout off in anger much
more easily than Indonesians. The easiest way to get rid of an unwanted expatriate
is to file a charge of fitnah. Stating what to you may seem obvious—that
a business partner was “dishonest” or “cheated” you, for instance—could subject
you to arrest. Your charge is unproven unless your partner is actually tried and
convicted, and in the meantime you have slandered him, and you could well be arrested
and convicted before your partner's case comes to trial, if it ever does.
A common expatriate response to a charge of fitnah is to leave Indonesia. You are facing a prison sentence in
an uncertain legal system. Run away, case closed.
We will explore and explain fitnah in more detail in the coming months at this site.