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Defamation Laws Spark Concerns for Press Freedom in Indonesia

   Sara Schonhardt | Jakarta 13 May 2010

   Under  Indonesian  law,  government officials can charge almost anyone
   with defamation, an act that can land critics and activists in jail.
   Critics  like  Usman  Hamid, a bespectacled human rights activist, who
   hardly resembles a criminal. Neither does Prita Mulyasari, a housewife
   and  mother  of  two,  or Khoe Seng Seng, a slight, soft-spoken trader
   whose shop huddles in the back of a north Jakarta mall.
   Yet   Indonesian  officials  have  charged  all  three  with  criminal
   defamation   for  actions  human  rights  groups  say  the  Indonesian