Amnesty: Dandhy Laksono's Case Proof of Corroding Civil Liberties
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27 September 2019 09:30 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Amnesty International Indonesia argues that the country’s civil liberties have significantly declined, especially the freedom to express opinions following the arrest of activist Dandhy Laksono who is under charges of violating the Law on Electronic Information and Transactions or ITE Law.
The activist, and founder of documentary production Watchdoc, was arrested on Thursday before being released by the police this morning as a suspect.
“His arrest order is one of the examples of the declining quality for people’s civilian liberties lately,” said Amnesty International Indonesia campaign manager Puri Kencana Putri in a written statement today, September 27.
Puri argues that what Dandhy is being accused of is still categorized under freedom of expression considering that he is widely known to be critical against the government and the situation in Papua.
“This can be categorized as the freedom to express oneself, which must be guaranteed [by the Law] as it does not contain persuasion toward hatred,” said Puri.
Dandhy Laksono was arrested and picked up at his house located in Pondokgede, Bekasi, on Thursday night, September 26, 2019, at around 23:00 Western Indonesia Time (WIB). His lawyer said that Dandhy is being charged for what police deemed “hateful” Tweet on September 23, 2019.
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