Jakarta – A student at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta has been arrested by police on suspicion of defamation after she called the Central Java city "poor, stupid and uncultured" in a post on a popular social media account, Indonesian media reported.
News portal Detik.com reported that Florence Sihombing, 26, was arrested after being questioned for two hours by Yogyakarta police on Saturday morning.
The case originates from an incident on Wednesday. Florence drove her motorcycle to a gas station in the east of the city and attempted to buy gas from the pump that was reserved for cars buying Pertamax 95, which is not subject to government subsidy and is considerably more expensive than the Rp 6,500 paid for a liter of subsidized gas. Florence was told by the gas station staff that she had to queue behind the long line of motorcycles waiting for subsidized gas.
The government and state-owned energy company limited the availability of subsidized gas toward the end of August because of concerns that the quota for subsidized gas would run out before the end of the year. Some gas stations were forced to close because of the supply shortage and police were seconded to gas stations around the country to pre-empt any disorder. Long lines at gas stations were common across the country last week.
Several of the motorcyclists in the queue which Florence had attempted to jump jeered at the her. She left the gas station without buying gas and was furious at the way she had been treated.
She then posted the following on her Path account. "Jogja is poor, stupid and uncultured. Friends in Jakarta and Bandung, please don't stay in Jogja."
The comment was shared widely over social media and published by Indonesian news portal Tribunnews.com. Florence was subject to several abusive responses on various social media. Shortly after Florence's negative comments went viral, the Twitter account of Gadjah Mada University @swaragamafm published her apology.
"...I deeply apologize to the Yogyakarta people for the words on my Path [account]. I very much regret it and promise I will not do it again. I also apologize to [Gadjah Mata University], mainly the law faculty, the lecturers and all academics in the law faculty, although I never associated my statement with [the university]. I don't know who spread my Path status..."
But the consequences of her post were not limited to online bullying. A pressure group named Jati Sura reported Florence to Yogyakarta Police for defamation – a criminal offense in Indonesia.
"We object to the detention of our client," said Florence's lawyer, Wibowo Malik, as quoted by Detik.com on Saturday. "We reported [Florence] for defamation and inciting hatred as stipulated in the 2008 Electronic Information and Transaction Law," Jati Sura lawyer Ahmad Nurul Hakam said, as quoted by tribunnews.com on Thursday.