Indonesia president backs amnesty for professor jailed for WhatsApp messageJAKARTA: Indonesian President Joko Widodo has agreed to pardon an academic jailed last month for defamation under a controversial internet law, a minister said, following an outcry from human rights groups who say the law risks curtailing free speech. Saiful's case prompted complaints over the ease at which people can be prosecuted in Indonesia for comments made on messaging platforms, including remarks about people not even identified. Asked why Jokowi favoured amnesty in Saiful's case, a presidential spokesman referred Reuters to the security minister. A presidential amnesty was given in 2019 to a woman jailed under the same law for recording lewd phone calls from her boss. He said 38 scholars in Australia wrote to the president, requesting Saiful's pardon.
