Earlier this week, an Indonesian court began a trial against two prominent human rights activists accused of defaming a powerful member of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s cabinet.
Haris Azhar, the executive director of the Lokataru Foundation, which focuses on anti-corruption and human rights, and Fatia Maulidiyanti, the coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, or KontraS, were last month charged with defaming Luhut Pandjaitan, the coordinating minister for maritime and investment affairs, under Indonesia’s Electronic Information and Transactions Law.
This followed a defamation complaint filed by Luhut in September 2021 about a YouTube video in which the activists discussed a report stating that military operations in the eastern Papua region were designed in part to protect mining businesses in the area. In the video, Fatia alleged that Luhut was a shareholder of one of the companies operating in the region. Luhut denies the claim.
During the opening trial hearing at the East Jakarta District Court on Monday, prosecutors described in lachrymose terms how the powerful minister and former general nearly shed tears as he watched the video in which the accusations against him were leveled.