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| Lees hier de petitie |
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General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, Chief of the Indonesian National Police |
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| Dear Mr. Prabowo, | | I am writing to express my deep concern about the ongoing police investigation against human rights defenders Haris Azhar and Fatia Maulidiyanti. The two were reported to the police by the Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, on allegations of defamation under the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law. Furthermore, Pandjaitan sued Azhar and Maulidiyanti for 100 billion rupiahs each (approximately USD 7 million). | The allegations relate to a video on Azhar’s YouTube channel, where he and Maulidiyanti discuss a report about the alleged connections between military operations and mining activities in Intan Jaya Regency, in Papua. It is very distressing to learn that Azhar and Maulidiyanti face criminal charges for simply exercising their right to freedom of expression, which is guaranteed under both international and national law. Therefore, I urge you to:
- Drop the charges and close the investigation against Azhar and Maulidiyanti.
- Amend the ITE to decriminalize defamation and ensure that defamation is only treated as a civil matter.
- Ensure that all human rights defenders can carry out their peaceful activities without harassment, intimidation, arbitrary detention or fear of reprisals, in line with the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.
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