The Supreme Court’s decision to sentence Indonesian teacher Baiq Nuril for recording her principal’s sexual harassment, despite the fact that she was the victim of that harassment, has been decried by many netizens nationwide as a grave injustice and many have decided to take matters into their own hands to give her a ray of hope.
On crowdfunding website Kitabisa, one netizen named Anindya Joediono has started a fundraising campaign to help Nuril pay the IDR500 million (US$33,912) fine the court has ordered to pay as part of her sentence or face an additional 3 months in jail.
It is already quite evident that many in the public are standing by Nuril. Since the campaign’s launch yesterday, more than IDR87 million has already been raised as of the time of writing.
“I do not want to remain silent while Ibu Nuril is jailed. I want to ask you to stand by Ibu Nuril and talk about her case in discussions, seminars, or even theatrical stages where you live. Let’s together help Ibu Nuril’s struggle for justice,” Anindya wrote on the fundraiser’s page.
Nuril, a teacher from Mataram on the island of Lombok, says she had been verbally sexually harassed with indecent conversation from her school’s principal several times before she decided to record him doing so during a phone conversation back in 2012. When the recording was made public, the principal lost his post. But in retaliation, he filed a criminal report over the recording that Nuril may now have to spend six months in jail just for violation of Indonesia’s draconian Law on Electronic Information and Transactions (UU ITE).
Although Nuril was found not guilty at the district court level in July, prosecutors appealed directly to the Supreme Court, which overturned the lower court verdict and sentenced the teacher to six months in jail as well as a fine of IDR500 million.
As the Supreme Court’s decisions cannot be appealed, Nuril’s only hope for justice now is to file a judicial review, but those require new evidence to be submitted so it is not yet clear if her lawyers will be able to submit one.
You can help Nuril pay her fine by donating to her Kitabisa campaign here.
