YOGYAKARTA. Prosecutors on Monday requested the panel of judges at the Yogyakarta District Court to sentence Florence Saulina Sihombing, the defendant in an online defamation case, to a six-month suspended jail sentence, with a12-month probationary period, and a Rp 10 million (US$756.15) fine or an additional three-month sentence.

“We asked the judges to declare the defendant, Florence Saulina Sihombing, proven guilty of committing criminal deeds by transmitting and making electronic information with a libelous content accessible to the public,” prosecutor Rahayu Nur Raharsi said during the trial at the court in Yogyakarta on Monday.

Florence, a graduate student of the University of Gadjah Mada’s (UGM) School of Law, is in court for insulting remarks about Yogyakarta and its residents that she posted on a social media site in September 2014.

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On her Path account she expressed her anger over an incident at a gas station: “Jogja is poor, idiotic, uncivilized. Friends from Jakarta and Bandung, don’t stay in Jogja. Jogja residents are all bastards [...].”

“The defendant is proven guilty of violating Article 27 (3) and Article 5 (1) of Law No.11/2008 on information and electronic transactions,” said Rahayu.

She added that based on information from expert witnesses presented in hearing sessions, Florence’s actions constituted a crime.

“Among exacerbating factors is the fact that the defendant’s actions have caused unrest among Yogyakarta residents,” said the prosecutor.

Rahayu further said that one mitigating factor was that Florence had been cooperative. She apologized publicly to the people of Yogyakarta, after which Yogyakarta governor Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X said he had forgiven her. Florence has also received ethical sanctions from UGM.

“Florence does not need to undergo a jail sentence; however, if within 12 months she makes a similar mistake, she will be immediately imprisoned,” said Rahayu.

Florence, who attended her trial without a lawyer, asked the judges for two weeks to prepare her defense statement.

“As usual, we can give only one week to the defendant to arrange her defense statement. We cannot give longer because this case must be completed before April 12,” said Bambang Sunanta, the presiding judge, in response to Florence’s request. (ebf)