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View all search resultsJokowi backs amnesty for professor jailed for WhatsApp message
Saiful Mahdi, a lecturer from Aceh province, was imprisoned for three months over comments made in a WhatsApp messenger group chat among fellow academics, which criticized a hiring process for lecturers.
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I
ndonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has agreed to pardon an academic jailed last month for defamation under a controversial internet law, a minister said, following an outcry from human rights groups who say the law risks curtailing free speech.
Saiful Mahdi, a lecturer from Aceh province, was imprisoned for three months over comments made in a WhatsApp messenger group chat among fellow academics, which criticized a hiring process for lecturers.
Saiful's case prompted complaints over the ease at which people can be prosecuted in Indonesia for comments made on messaging platforms, including remarks about people not even identified.
Amnesty International has called the law was "deeply flawed".
Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD on Tuesday said Jokowi had approved amnesty for Saiful and would await feedback from parliament before granting a pardon.
Asked why Jokowi favoured amnesty in Saiful's case, a presidential spokesman referred Reuters to the security minister.
A presidential amnesty was given in 2019 to a woman jailed under the same law for recording lewd phone calls from her boss.
