Blasphemy law, mental illness and the potential for injustice: a cautionary tale from Indonesia

This article highlights troubling recent cases in Pakistan and Indonesia involving the preferring of the criminal charge of blasphemy. It gives particular scrutiny to the charges of blasphemy and blasphemous libel brought against Suzethe Margaret, a Catholic woman with schizophrenia in Indonesia in 2019. While it applauds the fact that in February 2020 she was acquitted by the Cibinong District Court, it expresses concern about the period of time she was held in detention without resolution of her circum stances and the risk that the decision could have been less legally rigorous. It utilises the case to reflect on the risks inherent in the subjectivity in the charge of blasphemy and the particular dangers when the accused person suffers from a mental illness that may either preclude their fitness to be tried or raise the potential for them to be not guilty by reason of mental impairment/insanity.