Another blow to the press freedom<\/p>\n
Another swan song was sung for the country's press freedom
\nwhen the Central Jakarta District Court ordered Trust magazine to
\npay Rp 1 billion (US$112.360) in a libel case against John
\nHamenda and his company PT Petindo Perkasa. The court also
\nordered Trust to apologize in a one-page ad in its edition.<\/p>\n
The court verdict apparently drew questions, especially
\nbecause the panel of judges considered that Trust had failed to
\nmaintain journalistic standards of conduct in its report.
\nHowever, witnesses for Trust, from the Indonesia Press Council,
\ntestified that the reports did not violate the Indonesian
\njournalistic code of ethics.<\/p>\n
More interesting is the fact that John Hamenda, the plaintiff,
\nis now being detained over a BNI bank credit scam. The police
\nhave submitted Hamenda's dossier to the prosecutor's office for
\nfurther legal processing.<\/p>\n
What Trust did was based on the Press Law on control,
\ncriticism, correction and suggestions for anything relating to
\nthe public interest. Trust should have been protected by law.<\/p>\n
Therefore, it is imperative that Trust seeks legal protection
\nfrom the Supreme Court in addition to its appeal to the
\nprovincial high court.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court should assign an independent team to
\ninvestigate the case, or else press freedom will always be in
\njeopardy. -- Koran Tempo, Jakarta<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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