Thread: Indo woman was detained by police after she made an online complaint about service

June 02, 2009

Jakarta Globe

Dessy Sagita
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.”

Loss of face taken to the extreme?

good old Asian Democracy or should that be "Demoncrazy"

Just come to me. Anne Nicole.

efficiency will improve as incompetents are outed - teh intertubes are teh w0wz

Originally Posted by Whiteshiva

So, just to state the obvious, regardless of whether the woman's complaints were justified or not, Omni hospital in Tangerang, indonesia is one to be avoided at all cost.

Yup, I wont be going there now, I actually live not fair from there, play football sometimes at the German school which is next door, if I break anything, I'll be insisting on the longer driver to a better place...

Originally Posted by Whiteshiva

Muppets!

exactly.

damn prosecutors should be thrown the case out though, I'm surprised (well not really) that the case was allowed to even happen!

and from Jakarta Post...

Ex-patient to stand trial, wins support from Net users

Multa Fidrus , The Jakarta Post , Tangerang | Wed, 06/03/2009 9:17 AM | Headlines
Prita Mulyasari, a housewife who has been detained for defamation allegations after complaining over the Internet about receiving allegedly substandard hospital treatment, will stand a criminal case trial at the Tangerang District Court on Thursday.
In a September 2008 civil lawsuit, the court ordered her to pay Rp 50 million (US$4,761) of the Rp 400 million compensation demanded by the hospital, as well as make a public apology in two printed media.
Prita has spent three weeks at Tangerang Women Penitentiary after being accused of defamation by Omni International Hospital in Serpong, Tangerang. She was separated from her two children, Khairan Ananta, 3, and Ranariya, 15 months old, and therefore unable to breast feed the latter.
Her story has created a buzz over the Internet with support pouring in through blogs and a Facebook cause titled Dukungan Bagi Ibu Prita Mulyasari, Penulis Surat Keluhan Melalui Internet yang Dipenjara (Support for Ibu Prita Mulyasari, Arrested Internet Complaint Author). About 14,000 people have joined the cause.
She also received support from the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).
“I miss my children. I just want to see them. All I did was spill the beans to my friends in an email. I did not mean to defame the hospital at all,” said Prita, who lost five kilograms in detention.
Prita said her Aug. 27, 2008 email — titled Penipuan (Fraud by) Omni International Hospital Alam Sutera Tangerang — revealed her disappointment over the hospital's poor service, its management's arrogance and its doctors’ inability to diagnose her illness during her treatment at the hospital from Aug. 7 to 12.
“I sent an email to 10 friends, hoping they would not suffer the same mistreatment at the hospital,” she said. But her email was then forwarded to mailing lists and blogs.
Prita's husband, Andre Nugroho, said he had filed a request for Prita's release but to no avail.
Tangerang Prosecutor's Office's head of general crimes, Irfan Jaya, said prosecutors charged Prita for violating Articles 27 of the Electronic Information Transaction Law and Article 310 and 311 of the Criminal Code. The articles carry a maximum sentence of six years in jail.
The case began when Prita came to the hospital for a health check on Aug. 7. The doctors who examined her — Hengky Gosal and Grace Herza Yarlen Nela — diagnosed her with dengue fever and ordered her to be treated at the hospital.
Laboratory tests and medical records showed her thrombocyte count dropped to 27,000, far from the minimum thrombocyte count of 100,000 platelets per cubic millimeter of blood. Prita was advised to be hospitalized for treatment. The next day, medical records showed her thrombocyte count reached 181,000.
Baffled, Prita then asked for a copy of her initial medical records but the hospital management refused to give it to her. As her condition worsened during the treatment, she decided to move to another hospital where she was later diagnosed with mumps.
Omni hospital staff, Yanti, said on Tuesday the hospital management would hold a press conference soon to clarify the matter.



Ex-patient to stand trial, wins support from Net users | The Jakarta Post

from the readers comments on Jakarta Post

kangbayu (not verified) — Wed, 06/03/2009 - 10:15am
Currently the cause has around 26.000 supporters, that's about 21.000 increase in a day. You can also support the cause here: Causes on Facebook | DUKUNGAN BAGI IBU PRITA MULYASARI, PENULIS SURAT KELUHAN MELALUI INTERNET YANG DITAHAN
Maybe the hospital should also re-consider their statement on DetikNews that the management "Does not fear of boycott movement on Facebook".

Originally Posted by kingwilly

Maybe the hospital should also re-consider their statement on DetikNews that the management "Does not fear of boycott movement on Facebook".

A bit late for crisis management now....

Please do keep up to date with what happens, KW - this could be interesting.

Originally Posted by Whiteshiva

Please do keep up to date with what happens, KW - this could be interesting.

its hit all the media outlets now, indo and english language. will keep updates...

hang on, just found this WTF ?

Don't blame internet law on Prita's detention: Official

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 06/03/2009 11:22 PM | National
Legal adviser for the communications and information minister, Edmon Makarim, said Wednesday the libel case implicating housewife Prita Mulyasari could not justify calls for revocation of the 2008 law on Electronic Information and Transaction due to suspicion that it would stifle freedom of speech.

Prita is charged with Article 27 of the law after she sent an e-mail containing her complaints about services at Omni International Hospital Alam Sutera in Tangerang, Banten.

“Don't judge the law if you don't know what exactly happened. The trial has not even started yet,” Edmon told a seminar at University of Indonesia in Depok, West Java.

“Who knows there was a conspiracy behind the case. We know that hospital business today is also full of competitions,” he added.

“I don't want to comment on Prita's particular case. The point is, if you, transmit slander through internet, you are subject to criminal charges,” Edmon said. (bbs)

Prita should be released, expert says

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 06/03/2009 4:24 PM | National
State prosecutors should release Prita Mulyasari, a housewife who has been detained for allegedly defaming a hospital on the Internet, University of Indonesia criminologist Adrianus Meliala said Wednesday.

"Police, prosecutors and judges should take a sense of justice into consideration. Don't be too strict in implementing the law and ignore fairness," Adrianus told reporters after a seminar on online pornography at the University of Indonesia in Depok, West Java.

Adrianus believes that Prita had no malicious intention when she shared her complaint about the medical treatment she underwent at the Omni International Hospital, Tangerang.

"I don't understand the police. The Electronic Information and Transaction Law stipulates intent, does it not?" he said.

Adrianus added the email Prita wrote was spread over the Internet via a mailing list, not by herself.

"Prosecutors and judges should consider acquitting Prita of all charges. They have the authority to do that," Adrianus said.

Prita has been detained at Tangerang Women’s Penitentiary for three weeks for allegedly violating Article 27 of the Electronic Information and Transaction Law and Articles 310 and 311 of the Criminal Code on defamation. (bbs)

they aren't really smart, are they ?

sounds like Indonesia has a justice system that is even more silly than Thailand,

and you think that wasn't possible,

Originally Posted by Butterfly

sounds like Indonesia has a justice system that is even more silly than Thailand, and you think that wasn't possible,

sadly so.

i think I need to update the other thread about the anti-corruption chief's murder case

Indonesia seems to be far worse than Thailand in many respects, don't know why the local expat community here is always moaning and complaining, they would face a worse deal in most countries, including theirs

Defamation being criminalized is the problem here.

Restrict it to a civil court and let the hospital sue her, then she can counter sue- yes, it's tedious , but works to keep spurious complaints to a minimal and people who don't belong in jail, out of jail.

Net users to monitor ex-patient libel trial

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 06/04/2009 8:35 AM | Jakarta
The trial of Prita Mulyasari, a housewife who was charged with defamation and detained for posting complaints on the Internet about receiving poor hospital treatment, will be closely watched by net users, a blogging activist says.

“We will monitor the trial. We have invited 60,000 bloggers to come to the court; but I don't how many will actually come,” Enda Nasution, a blogger who is unofficially dubbed the "father of Indonesian bloggers”, told tempointeraktif.com on Thursday.

Prita had been detained at Tangerang Women’s Penitentiary for three weeks after she was named a suspect for allegedly defaming Omni International Hospital, after she discussed her complaint about the hospital’s services on the Internet in 2008.

The Attorney General’s Office, apparently bowing to the mounting public outcry the case has raised, released her from prison and put her under city arrest on Wednesday.

She will face her first trial session today at the Tangerang District Court.

Support for her has been pouring in through blogs and a Facebook cause titled “Dukungan Bagi Ibu Prita Mulyasari, Penulis Surat Keluhan Melalui Internet yang Dipenjara” (“Support for Ibu Prita Mulyasari, Arrested Internet Complaint Author”). About 88,000 people had joined the cause by Thursday morning.

Prita, in her Aug. 27, 2008 email titled “Penipuan (Fraud by) Omni International Hospital Alam Sutera Tangerang”, revealed her disappointment over the hospital's poor service, its management's arrogance and its doctors’ inability to diagnose her illness during her treatment at the hospital from Aug. 7 to 12. (dre)

Libel detainee released after outcry


The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 06/04/2009 11:06 AM | Headlines
Emotional encounter: Prita Mulyasari (left), who found herself in legal hot water after complaining online about Omni International Hospital’s poor service, cries as she greets presidential candidate Megawati Soekarnoputri who visited her at a women’s detention house in Tangerang, west of Jakarta, on Wednesday. The court bowed to public pressure, reducing her detention to house arrest. JP/J. ADIGUNA
Prita Mulyasari was released Wednesday, pending her libel trial to be held Thursday, with one presidential candidate already weighing in on the public outcry the case has raised.

Prita, the consumer who was charged with defamation and detained for posting complaints on the Internet about Omni International Hospital's poor service, was released after the public questioned the need for her detention.
She faces her first trial session today at the Tangerang District Court.
Her family said the public outcry and public opinion generated sporadically over the web and through the media had led to her release.
Carolina Siswopratiwi, Prita's sister, said, "true, the family has fought for justice, but my sister's release was a result of the support showed by journalists, bloggers, the National Commission on Human Rights and many others whom we cannot name one by one.
"We are told by our lawyers that although Prita was released, she would not be allowed to leave the city," she said.
Earlier Wednesday, presidential candidate and former president Megawati Soekarnoputri visited Prita at the Tangerang women's detention center, while incumbent vice president and presidential candidate Jusuf Kalla, plans to visit her, according to Prita's husband, Andri Nugroho.
Anggara, coordinator of the human rights advocacy division of the Association of Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights (PBHI), said the case was just the beginning of a long legal process.
"It should be approached cautiously since we do not know if the case might go to the Supreme Court.
"The case could become a political commodity."
Anggara added that what the public needed to know was which candidates was game enough to promise to remove the defamation articles from the Criminal Code, the Broadcast Law and the law on electronic information and transactions.
"Prita's case was a first for the law on electronic information and transactions, and it has already shown the public rejects it, with over 40,000 people supporting Prita on Facebook," he said.
In a September 2008 civil lawsuit filed by Omni International Hospital in Tangerang, the court ordered Prita to pay Rp 50 million (US$4,700) of the Rp 400 million compensation demanded by the hospital, as well as apologize in two print media outlets.
She now stands accused of violating Article 27 on defamation of the 2008 law on electronic information and transactions.
Nezar Patria, chairman of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), said, "We demand the articles of defamation be taken out off the criminal law."
The PBHI, the AJI, the Press Legal Aid, the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM) and the Indonesian Consumers Foundation, as well as a loose grouping of individual bloggers, released a joint public statement Wednesday saying Prita Mulyasari's detention was a violation of human rights.
Together with other organizations, they formed the Committee of Freedom of Expression Advocates on the same day.
Tulus Abadi, chairman of the Foundation of the Indonesian Consumers Institution, said, "this sets a bad precedent for consumers, since the right to complain is protected under Law No. 8/1999 on Consumer Protection.
"This case has killed consumer's right to complain and created a new fear about being critical," Tulus said.

There is 3 more articles about this case in today's paper. Jakarta post, being the fine, well organised group that it is, does not update it's webpage until about 10am, so I'll post them then.

Originally Posted by kingwilly

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.

Ahhhhh poor international hospital....got a tip....do your job properly and then you won't find yourself getting slagged off on the net....they lost business deals!!!! who are they trying to kid....more like the global economy was starting to collapse and they just pulled out or the deal stunk...but let's blame some bird we didn't make better....fuzzy Big Ind' Company logic at work..

Originally Posted by kingwilly

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.

So why didn't she just agree to tell her 10 mates on facebook....and then agree that she didn't want to know what was up with her....diagnosed with Dengue???? that's gotta be at least a week in the hospital...big bucks there for the hospital...patient starts to complain and wants to see proof???? give her the wrong drugs and send the bitch home...

If this is the Bantan island I know...just off the coast of Singapore then it was a shi'te hole of a place that closed at 8-9pm!!!!!! WTF

Originally Posted by Mr R Sole

Originally Posted by kingwilly

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.

Ahhhhh poor international hospital....got a tip....do your job properly and then you won't find yourself getting slagged off on the net....they lost business deals!!!! who are they trying to kid....more like the global economy was starting to collapse and they just pulled out or the deal stunk...but let's blame some bird we didn't make better....fuzzy Big Ind' Company logic at work.

Not only that, the financial damage caused by the poor woman's email pales in comparison with bad press they brought on themselves by their lawsuit. A classical PR disaster.

Originally Posted by Whiteshiva

Not only that, the financial damage caused by the poor woman's email pales in comparison with bad press they brought on themselves by their lawsuit. A classical PR disaster.

exactly, I'll try and find those jakarta post articles now.... one of them is titled PR Storm gone wrong.