Govt drops court ruling appeal

Jokowi to issue retraction letter in Papua Internet access case

THE government has decided to drop its appeal against a court ruling that found it had violated the law for blocking Internet access in Papua and West Papua amid tensions caused by anti-racism protests in the two provinces last year.

Presidential expert staff member Dini Shanti Purwono confirmed that the government had decided to retract its appeal.

“From what I have gathered, the Communications and Information Ministry issued a retraction letter on Thursday.

“The President is set to issue (a retraction letter) on Monday (today),” Dini said on Saturday.

The Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) had previously sent letters notifying civil society groups that the two defendants in the case, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Communications and Information Minister Johnny G. Plate, had filed appeals against the court ruling.

“The first defendant (Jokowi) filed an appeal against the court ruling on June 12, 2020,” stated the notification letter from the PTUN to the plaintiffs, a copy of which was obtained by the Post on Saturday.

Another letter informed the plaintiffs that Johnny had filed an appeal as well.

The PTUN previously ruled on June 2 in favour of civil society organisations that filed a lawsuit against the government on the matter, accusing it of having violated the 1959 State Emergency Law when it imposed an Internet blackout in the provinces.

The judges argued that the government failed to prove during the court hearing that the country was in a state of emergency requiring authorities to shut down the Internet.

The bench also argued that any policy that limited people’s right to information should be made in accordance with the law and not merely based on the government’s discretion.

The plaintiff was a coalition of civil groups including the Alliance of Independent Journalists, the South East Asia Freedom of Expression Network, the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute and the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy.