Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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Indonesian Woman Convicted of Recording Boss' Sexual Advances Seeks
Presidential Amnesty

Stanley Widianto

   JAKARTA - The widely-publicized case of Baiq Nuril Maknun, the
   41-year-old school bookkeeper sentenced to six months in prison for
   recording sexually-suggestive phone calls she received from the
   principal at her school, has gained traction after the Indonesian
   government indicated a willingness to grant her amnesty - which would
   eliminate any traces of wrongdoing from her part.

   After a meeting in Jakarta with Nuril and her counsel on Monday,
   Indonesia's Law and Human Rights Minister, Yasonna Laoly, told
   reporters an amnesty could be announced after Indonesia's newly-elected
   president, Joko Widodo, through the state secretariat, discusses the
   legal proceedings with the House of Representatives. One of Nuril's
   lawyers, Joko Jumadi, confirmed to VOA that they will meet with the
   House of Representatives Wednesday.
   "I think it sounds to me like a green light," he said. "We are
   optimistic. We have to be."

   Several law experts were also invited to the meeting, one of whom was
   Bivitri Susanti who confirmed to VOA that the president was indicated
   to have favored amnesty. Last week, Joko told reporters in Manado, a
   city on Sulawesi island, that though he would not intervene with the
   Supreme Court ruling, he advised that Nuril and her counsel apply for
   amnesty.

   Talk of granting Nuril amnesty followed a controversial rejection of
   Nuril's appeal from Indonesia's Supreme Court last week - one that
   upheld her prison stay and a $35,000 (500 million rupiahs) fine.

   Case history

   Nuril's case began in 2012, when Muslim (who, like many Indonesians,
   goes by one name), the newly-minted principal of her school in Mataram,
   called her repeatedly. In the phone calls, he used sexually
   inappropriate language and even went as far as to tell her about his
   own affair with his own treasurer. As word spread suggesting Nuril and
   Muslim had indeed embarked on an affair, Nuril determined to disprove
   the rumor to her colleagues by recording the call.
   Learning of the recordings, Muslim reported Nuril to the police, citing
   a clause in Indonesia's controversial electronic information and
   transactions law that presides over defamation. Deemed innocent by the
   local court (though she still went to prison during the investigation)
   in 2017, the prosecutors took it up with the Supreme Court who later
   convicted Nuril of defamation in 2018 and sentenced her to a six-month
   jail time.

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