HENDARDI: PRITA'S COURT TRIUMPH ALSO PUBLIC'S VICTORY

Jakarta, June 25 (ANTARA) - Hendardi, former executive director of the Indonesian Legal Aid Association (PBHI) said the victory of Prita Mulyasari at the Tangerang District Court was also a victory of the public which had all along supported her.

"It's also the public's victory. Because, the public through the media had built an extraordinary pressure on injustice against Prita," Hendardi, chairman of the executive board of SETARA Institute, said here on Thursday.

He said that legally, the release of Prita showed that there was a mistake from the legal point of view, especially in law enforcement.

Therefore, the Law on Information and Electronic Transactions (UU ITE) should be reviewed because it was proven to have claimed a victim, he said.

"It means that UU ITE could cause a wrong interpretation, and therefore it should be reviewed," he said.

Politically, the victory of Prita could give inspiration to the public to react and organize pressure if citizens experience injustice, he said.

In the Prita case, the public's pressure was huge, and justice came quite fast, he said. "This should be acknowledged as a success of the public," Hendardi said, adding that the Prita case was also a good lesson for legal enforcers.

Meanwhile, the Tangerang district court in Tangerang, Banten Province, on Thursday (June 25) rejected the prosecution's charges that Prita Mulyasari (32) had defamed Omni International hospital as defined in the law on information and electronic transactions.

Presiding Judge Karel Topu at a court session to hear the defense's objections to the charges, said that Prita could not be prosecuted based on the Law on Information and Electronic Transactions (UU ITE) because the law was not yet in force.

"The law on ITE cannot yet be applied because it will only come into force one year from now, or beginning April 21, 2010. Therefore, Prita Mulyasari cannot be charged based on the law," Karel Topu said.

Prita who was previously jailed for several weeks was taken to court for telling friends over the Internet about Omni International Hospital's poor service.***4***
SDP-19