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The case of a grandmother of seven who was charged with stealing three pieces of cocoa fruit and subjected to 18 days of house arrest before being dragged to court to receive a suspended sentence is just further proof of the injustices visited on the poor in this country, human rights activists said on Friday.

“The Indonesian judiciary clearly still ignores anybody with no money, no power and no connections,” Nurkholis, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights, told the Jakarta Globe on Friday.

He was referring to the case of Minah, 55, an illiterate grandmother from a small village near Banyumas in Central Java.

Minah was confused that, after having returned the cocoa fruit to the plantation, owned by PT Rumput Sari Antan, and having apologized profusely, they still reported her to the police

However, she was adamant that she would face the courts and prosecutors’ offices even though she had to travel — on several occasions — long distances on foot before catching the bus from Banyumas to get to Purwokerto, initially to face questioning at the Purwokerto Prosecutor’s Office and later, as a defendant, at the Purwokerto District Court.

The defendant received a suspended sentence of one month and 15 days and will not serve prison time provided she does not violate the terms of her probation, presiding judge Muslich Bambang Luqmono said during Thursday’s court hearing.

As he read the verdict, Muslich reportedly held back tears, and stated that Minah reminded him of his parents, who had been farmers.

“This is a small case, but it has hurt so many people,” Muslich said of the case, which unleashed an outcry after the general public learned of Minah’s treatment.

Nurkholis said it was a sad indictment of the country’s legal system. “The court and the prosecutors have behaved preposterously, considering that she made such a small mistake. It is so sad to see that our legal system has lost both its direction and its priorities,” he said.

Legal Aid lawyer Kristin Tambunan said injustices like this were an inevitable outcome if the defendant or the suspect was poor.

“Those with money, power and connections, like Anggodo Widjojo, are untouchable. Only the poor suffer,” Kristin said, in reference to the brother of fugitive graft suspect Anggoro Widjojo.

Anggodo has said on national television that he “gave” nearly Rp 6 billion ($636,000) to a case broker to “deal with the KPK problem.”

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) had launched an investigation into Anggoro and his company, PT Masaro Radiokom, in connection with a 2006 Forestry Ministry project alleged to have caused massive state losses.

Anggodo remains free after having made the admission and his brother has managed to flee to Singapore, which has no extradition treaty with Indonesia.

Kristin said Minah’s case was not much different from the recent case of 10 boys in Tangerang who were detained by police after they were caught tossing coins near Soekarno-Hatta airport.

The prosecutors in that case insisted the boys were gambling and must be brought to court. Even though they were eventually released, Kristin said, such cases were proof that the law was no friend of the powerless.

The courts are notorious for issuing verdicts that continue to reek of injustice. Another fugitive, Djoko Sugiarto Tjandra, managed to flee to Singapore after the Supreme Court sentenced him to two years for embezzling Rp 546 billion in the Bank Bali scandal.

A former city council chief from Central Java received probation for his part in a Rp 14.8 billion corruption scandal. Wealthy businessman Adiguna Sutowo received only seven years in prison for the fatal shooting of a waiter on New Year’s Day in 2005. The list is long.