JakartaPost-Mar 22
Human rights activists in Indonesia have faced crippling pressure in recent weeks for speaking truth to power, as the nation’s civic space continues to shrink amid organized efforts to quash dissent and criminalize outspoken critics. Coming into the final years of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration, civil society organizations (CSOs) are increasingly expressing concern for the state of democracy and human rights. Most recently, they have called on the government to stop criminalizing human rights defenders, after two renowned activists were named suspects in an ongoing defamation case, filed by Luhut Pandjaitan, the Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister. The Jakarta Police named Lokataru Foundation executive director Haris Azhar and Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS) coordinator Fatia Maulidiyanti as suspects on Friday, nearly six months since Luhut filed complaints against statements they made during an online discussion. Luhut accused Fatia and Haris of defamation, that “Luhut is playing around with mining [operations] in Papua these days” and for distributing the content of these discussions via YouTube. “The criminalization of Haris and Fatia is clearly a form of repression against civilians who choose to use their voice. This is clearly a dangerous phenomenon, because it will bring about public fear and silence on a large scale,” said KontraS (the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence). Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/paper/2022/03/22/activists-warn-of-state-repression.html.
