AJI wins lawsuit against governor<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Central Jakarta District Court ordered Governor Sutiyoso on
\nMonday to apologize to a reporter who had been intimidated by
\ncity public order officers.<\/p>\n
The court's decision, which was delivered by presiding judge
\nAndi Samsan Ngaro, was in response to demands contained in a
\nlawsuit filed by the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) on
\nbehalf of reporter Edi Hariyadi of Warta Kota daily.<\/p>\n
Besides Sutiyoso, the court also ordered the East Jakarta
\nmayor, the East Jakarta public order office chief and a public
\norder officer to apologize to Edi Hariyadi.<\/p>\n
However, the court did not state exactly how Sutiyoso should
\napologize -- whether it should be directly or via the mass media,
\ndetik.com online news said.<\/p>\n
However, the court rejected AJI's demand that the defendants
\npay compensation totaling Rp 100 million, earlier planned to be
\nspent on T-shirts printed with the slogan, \"Don't Beat
\nJournalists\".<\/p>\n
The court also rejected a demand that the defendants buy
\ncopies of Law No. 40\/1999 on press freedom and distribute them to
\npublic order officers.<\/p>\n
Both AJI's lawyers, led by Azas Tigor Nainggolan, and
\nSutiyoso's, were still considering whether or not to appeal
\nagainst the court's decision.<\/p>\n
The incident under consideration occurred on March 27, 2002,
\nwhen Edi Hariyadi reported on an eviction carried out by public
\norder officers on the occupants of houses on Jl. Cakung,
\nCilincing, East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
One of the officers, Dapot Manihuruk, tried to prevent Edi
\nfrom covering the eviction but the reporter refused to comply.
\nSince that time Edi was often subject to intimidation.<\/p>\n
AJI's lawsuit was the first to be won by a non-governmental
\norganization (NGO) against government officials. Last year,
\nseveral individuals, including pedicab drivers and liquefied
\npetroleum gas consumers, with support from NGOs, were also
\nsuccessful in class actions.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/aji-wins-lawsuit-against-governor-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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