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. 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. 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.
Support from a group on MySpace attracted considerable support as well as Indonesian blog sites.
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.
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") started raising money from people throughout Indonesia. People started collecting coins to help Prita to pay the fine. 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.
Notes
- ^ 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
- ^ "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.
- "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.