By Dewi Nurita in Jakarta
The Indonesian government has submitted an appeal against the Jakarta Administrative District Court’s (PTUN) decision that found President Joko Widodo and the Communication and Information Minister guilty of imposing an internet blackout in the Papua and West Papua provinces last August.
“On June 12, 2020, Defendant I filed an appeal against the Jakarta Administrative Court Decision’s ruling No. 230/G/TF/2019/PTUN-JKT dated June 3, 2020,” wrote the copy of the appeal letter received by Tempo on Friday.
In this case, the Communication and Information Minister Johnny G. Plate acts as Defendant 1, while President Jokowi acts as Defendant 2.
READ MORE: Jokowi ‘violates the law’ for banning internet in Papua
The plaintiffs are the Independent Journalist Alliance (AJI) and the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet).
AJI advocacy coordinator Sasmito Madrim confirmed that his side also received the appeal letter.
“Yes, I have (received it),” said Sasmito via short message to Tempo on Friday.
As widely reported, the government throttled the internet bandwidth in the West Papua region due to the unrest in August 2019 following mass demonstrations against racism against Papuans.
In early June, the court declared the government guilty of violating the law on emergency conditions.
Moreover, there was no initial announcement regarding the dangerous situation.
The panel of judges then sentenced the government defendants to each paying the court fee of Rp457,000 (NZ$50).
Dewi Nurita is a Tempo reporter, Dewi Elvia Muthiariny is the story English langiage translator and Markus Wisnu Murti editor.
