JAKARTA: Indonesia’s parliament approved on Thursday an amnesty for a woman who was jailed after recording lewd phone calls from her boss in a case that has caused outrage and warnings that it could discourage victims of sexual abuse from speaking out.

President Joko Widodo had granted an amnesty to Baiq Nuril Maknun after she had exhausted all other legal avenues in the controversial case.

Parliament’s approval was met by loud applause as the tearful mother of three who was in the chamber covered her face with her hands before kissing the ground.

Erma Suryani Ranik, a member of parliament, read a statement confirming the decision and said in this case “Baiq Nuril was the real victim, instead of the perpetrator”.

Maknun, who had been working at a school on the island of Lombok, recorded some parts of lewd telephone calls from the school’s principal without his knowledge in 2012 after complaining of sexual harassment. She then gave a recording to a third person, and distributed it on an electronic device, which resulted in the principal losing his job, court documents showed.

In 2015, the principal reported Maknun to police, which resulted in her being prosecuted under laws targeting the electronic distribution of pornographic material.

Although the case was dismissed by a lower court, prosecutors took it to the Supreme Court and Maknun was jailed for six months and given a 500 million rupiah ($36,000) fine.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2019