Jakarta – The tide of public opinion has turned in the case of Florence Sihombing, the postgraduate student widely condemned for an offensive social media post about Yogyakarta, as calls now mount for her release after she was arrested for alleged defamation.
Florence, 26, was arrested by Yogyakarta Police on Saturday following two hours of questioning, after a complaint was filed against her by Jati Sura, a local nongovernmental organization.
She has been charged with defamation and inciting hatred under the Criminal Code and the 2008 Electronic Transactions and Information Law, or ITE law. Her arrest was just as swiftly condemned as her initial post in which she called Yogyakarta "stupid" and "uncultured."
"The Florence case is the latest instance of the poor enforcement of the law when it comes to cases of defamation being filed under the ITE law," Alex Argo Hernowo, an official with the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, or Kontras, said at a press conference in Jakarta on Sunday.
"Police should have prioritized efforts to mediate between [Jati Sura] and Florence," he added.
Alex called the police action "outrageous," adding that Florence had apologized for her post last Wednesday on the social media network Path. "The police shouldn't have arrested her," he said.
Florence's lawyer also rebuked the police for not pursuing other options. "We object to the detention of our client," Wibowo Malik, Florence's lawyer, said on Saturday as quoted by Detik.com.
In the offending post, Florence wrote: "Jogja is poor, stupid and uncultured. Friends in Jakarta and Bandung, please don't stay in Jogja."
She later explained that she wrote it because she was infuriated after trying to fill up her motorcycle with gasoline at a Pertamina gas station, only to be barred from using the lane for cars and unwilling to wait in the much longer line for motorcycles.
The government and state energy company Pertamina limited the availability of subsidized fuel toward the end of August because of concerns that the annual quota for subsidized fuel would run out before the end of the year.
Some gas stations across the country 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, particularly in Java.
Florence's post, and similar offensive ones that she wrote in quick succession, elicited a torrent of criticism from Indonesia's rabid social media community.
That prompted Florence to issue an apology through the Twitter account of her school, Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University, or UGM, in which she said, "I very much regret it and promise I will not do it again.
"I also apologize to [UGM], mainly the law school, the lecturers and all the faculty at the law school, although I never associated my statement with [UGM]."
While her apology did little to ease the online ire against her, Florence's arrest seemed to win her some sympathy.
"I don't think what she said was right, and I agree she should be punished so that she'll be more careful with her words. But is jailing her the answer? #FreeFlo," Twitter user @novelisa wrote on Sunday.
"Just release florence. why is jogja doing this? thought jogja is soft-spoken and humble? Come on, don't overreact jogja!!" said another user, @denbagushari.
Yogyakarta Police, meanwhile, said that Florence had been arrested because she was "being uncooperative" in the investigation into alleged defamation.
"[She] refused to sign the investigation report, and we've had complaints from the victims, namely the public," Sr. Comr. Kokot Indarto, the Yogyakarta Police's director for special crimes, said on Sunday as quoted by Tribunnews.com. He added that police were also concerned that she would have skipped town if she wasn't arrested.
Kokot said that neither Florence nor Jati Sura were willing to resolve their spat amicably. "So we have to continue to investigate the case," he said.
Yogyakarta Police spokeswoman Adj. Sr. Comr. Anny Pudjiastuti said separately that Florence faced up to six years in prison if convicted of the charges against her. She added that the evidence police had gathered against her included printouts of screenshots of the offending posts.
Police also hope to question the individual who leaked Florence's posts to the general public and thus helped to fuel the popular outrage.
Users' posts on Path are only visible to the users' immediate contacts. In Florence's case, a screengrab was made of her posts, presumably by one of her contacts, and shared online via other social media platforms.
Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/one-hothead-social-media-minefield/