Woman jailed for recording lewd call to prove harassment

BANGKOK — A school bookkeeper in Indonesia who recorded her boss’ lewd phone call as proof she was being harassed must serve at least six months in prison for distributing obscene material, the country’s Supreme Court has ruled.

Nuril Maknun, 41, who worked as a parttime bookkeeper at a high school on the religiously conservative island of Lombok, said on Friday that she was disappointed by the court’s ruling, which she called an “obvious injustice.” It was her final appeal in a case that has been closely followed across the country and that became an issue during the recent presidential election.

“I, as a woman, should be protected, but then I was the one who became the victim,” she said in a telephone interview. “People should know that when we get harassed, there is no place to take refuge.”

Her boss, who goes by the single name Muslim, as is common in Indonesia, was the principal at Senior High School Seven in Mataram, Lombok’s largest city. Nuril recorded him using explicit language and hounding her to have an affair. He was never punished for harassing her and instead has been promoted repeatedly.

The case has highlighted the common problem of workplace harassment in Indonesia. President Joko Widodo said in the runup to his reelection that he would consider granting clemency to Nuril once her legal appeals had been exhausted. An aide to the president said on Friday that officials were reviewing the case.

Women in Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim country, have little legal recourse and are expected to tolerate harassment and sometimes sexual relations if they want to keep their jobs, women’s rights advocates said.

Nuril was acquitted at trial, but prosecutors appealed the verdict.

A threejudge panel found her guilty last year and imposed a sentence of six months and a fine of about $35,000, a huge amount for her family. If she does not pay the fine, she must serve an additional three months.

In the ruling released on Thursday by a different threejudge panel, the court denied her request for a review of the case.