Activists slam plan to revise Press Law<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Media activists criticized over the weekend a plan to revise the
\nPress Law, saying the move would likely curtail press freedom.<\/p>\n
Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) chairman Eddy
\nSuprapto said the government and the House of Representatives had
\nno logical argument to support the revision of Law No. 40\/1999 on
\nthe press.<\/p>\n
"There would be nothing wrong with revising the law as long as
\nit aimed at improvements, but we must question this. The
\ngovernment and legislators decided to revise the Press Law after
\ncomplaining that the country's press has been kebablasan," he
\ntold The Jakarta Post Saturday.<\/p>\n
Kebablasan is Javanese for an action that has gone beyond the
\nsense of appropriateness.<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri has on several occasions said
\nthat the press had gone overboard after some media criticized her
\nthrough caricatures and articles.<\/p>\n
At least two editors of Rakyat Merdeka daily, known for its
\ntabloid-style journalism, have been sued for insulting Megawati
\nand House Speaker Akbar Tandjung.<\/p>\n
"It is illogical for people to blame the Press Law when they
\ncan't face media criticism. It's not the law that must be
\nrevised, but their perception of the media," Eddy said.<\/p>\n
Press Council member Hinca Panjaitan also rejected the move to
\nrevise articles that would affect press freedom.<\/p>\n
"Revision is mandatory only if it aims at improving the law.
\nOtherwise, it would be a historical setback," said Panjaitan, who
\nadmitted that the Press Law needed revision to guarantee press
\nfreedom.<\/p>\n
The government and the House agreed last week to revise the
\nPress Law.<\/p>\n
Among articles to be revised is the one on the Press Council's
\nfunction in mediating in disputes between the media and members
\nof society as both the government and the House presume the
\ncouncil will favor the press in disputes.<\/p>\n
The selection of the Press Council members is also another
\ntopic that both the government and the House agreed to revise.
\nThe House has demanded that candidates for the Press Council be
\nscreened by the House, as with other state commissions.<\/p>\n
State Minister of Communications and Information Syamsul
\nMu'arif, who has often complained that media hype violates the
\ncountry's norms, said last Friday that the Press Law was too
\nlenient.<\/p>\n
Unless the Press Law stipulates heavier sentences, he said,
\nthe Criminal Code is used for cases involving the press.<\/p>\n
Eddy alleged that both the government and the House were
\nmerely aiming at limiting the media's role in providing
\ninformation for the public.<\/p>\n
"It is clear that the spirit of the initiative to revise (the
\nlaw) is to punish the media," he said.<\/p>\n
The prevailing law bans draconian measures against the media
\nsuch as closing down a media outfit for political reasons, which
\nwas successfully applied by the New Order regime to suppress the
\npress for over three decades.<\/p>\n
It also guarantees independence of the Press Council by
\nletting media organizations select its members without involving
\neither the government or the House.<\/p>\n
However, the law is said to have some serious flaws. While it
\nrequires the media to publish objections, it does not oblige the
\npublic to exercise their right to demand an explanation in the
\nevent of misreporting.<\/p>\n
The Press Law has articles detailing steps to be taken in out-
\nof-court settlements before a person decides to take a case to
\ncourt. It also orders the Press Council to mediate in disputes
\nbetween the members of the public and the media.<\/p>\n
Some businesspeople and state officials, and their lawyers,
\nhave noted the flaws and have chosen to use the Criminal Code to
\nsettle disputes with the media.<\/p>\n
The government prefers to use the Criminal Code -- an
\ninheritance from Dutch colonial rulers -- which does not have a
\nspecific article on the press, to settle disputes involving the
\nmedia.<\/p>\n
"I don't think they understand about the media, the media
\nbusiness or the media law. Words must be faced by words, not
\npunishment. Press reports are not illegal flyers whose producers
\nare unknown," Panjaitan said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/activists-slam-plan-to-revise-press-law-1447893297",
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