Indonesian student prosecuted over Facebook insult

The country is also considering proposals to block Internet sites that are deemed to violate ˝public decency˝ and privacy.

JEMBER, February 25, 2010 (AFP) - Indonesian prosecutors on Thursday demanded a suspended jail sentence for a university student who was found guilty of insulting his music mentor on Facebook.

Muhammad Wahyu Muharam in August last year referred to his marching band mentor as a "scoundrel" and "very greedy" on his Facebook page.

"We ask for a suspended six-month jail for the defendant as he had insulted his marching band mentor on social networking website Facebook," prosecutor Lusiana said after Muharam was found guilty by the Jember district court in East Java.

He said the prosecutors had reduced their recommended sentence after the defendant expressed regret.

After the trial, the law student told reporters that he hoped his experience would be a lesson to other Facebook users.

"I hope all Facebookers will be more cautious in their postings," he said outside the courtroom.

The case was the latest involving Facebook after an Indonesian teenager received a suspended jail sentence last week for posting insulting remarks to her romantic rival on the site.

Indonesia's tough criminal defamation law has been criticised as one of the world's strictest.

The country is also considering proposals to block Internet sites that are deemed to violate "public decency" and privacy.

Thousands of people have joined a Facebook group opposed to the planned Internet restrictions. Under certain provisions of the draft regulations, Facebook users or Facebook itself could be blocked.