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The Attorney General’s Office responded quickly to Tuesday’s acquittal of cause celebre Prita Mulyasari on criminal defamation charges by vowing to appeal the verdict to the Supreme Court.

The decision by the AGO to continue trying to imprison the mother of two for complaining via email about the service at a Tangerang hospital could cause a further public backlash against the country’s law enforcement system at a time when its credibility is at its lowest point in years, analysts say.

Nonetheless, prosecutors in Tangerang contend Prita remains a defendant in their eyes despite her acquittal at a retrial at the Tangerang District Court in Banten that has drawn international attention.

“We have 14 days to declare our stance, but we will challenge the acquittal for sure,” AGO spokesman Didiek Darmanto told the Jakarta Globe.

He dismissed Article 244 of the Criminal Procedures Code, which doesn’t allow prosecutors to challenge a “not guilty” verdict, saying it applied case by case and that judges still had room to maneuver.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Tangerang District Court acquitted Prita of defaming two doctors at Omni International Hospital in an email she sent to friends complaining about treatment she received at the facility.

“We pronounce the defendant not guilty and her good name must be restored,” presiding judge Arthur Hangewa said as he read the verdict, which was broadcast live on national television.

Joyous celebrations broke out as the verdict was read.

The panel of judges ruled that the email “didn’t carry defamatory intent and was instead meant as ‘constructive criticism’ for the sake of public interest.”

The verdict triggered elation in the courtroom, which was packed with Prita’s supporters.

“Allahu Akbar! Justice is done!” one shouted.

Prita, a housewife from Tangerang, knelt and kissed the court’s floor in a gesture of relief and gratitude.

“Thank you, thank you everyone,” she said tearfully as a mob of journalists and courtroom spectators surrounded her shortly after the trial ended.

However, a statement released by the AGO said that while the judges had found no defamatory intent, they had declared that Prita had sent the email.

The statement said: “The judges’ verdict should have cleared the defendant of all charges, but not have acquitted her because in their deliberations, they found a compelling reason [for Prita to send the e-mail], and they also said one of the charges could not be proven.”

It was the second acquittal issued by the same court in a now-infamous defamation case that has lumbered on for six months.

Analysts say the case has exposed injustices suffered by poor and middle-class Indonesians who become ensnared in the country’s judicial system.

Prita was charged under the controversial 2008 Electronic Information and Transaction Law that mandates up to six years in prison for defamation. There is a move underway in the House of Representatives to amend the law.

Prita was held in jail for three weeks earlier this year as she awaited trial, but media coverage and a swell of support on the social networking site Facebook compelled police to release her on bail.

The “Prita case,” has been a public relations nightmare for Omni, which from the beginning has been seen in the public’s eyes as attempting to bully a middle-class housewife.

The hospital won a separate civil case against Prita and recently was awarded Rp 204 million ($21,600) in damages, but it decided to drop the suit after Prita appealed.

Indonesians from all walks off life, ranging from scavengers to schoolchildren to members of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party, donated more than Rp 800 million to pay the fine.

As the tide began to turn, Prita struck back with a Rp 1 trillion countersuit against Omni, which is now seeking an out-of-court settlement.