IPTN, 'Post' dispute likely to go to court<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Lawyers representing The Jakarta Post accepted
\nbut regretted yesterday the state-owned aircraft maker PT IPTN's
\nplan to bring their dispute to court.<\/p>\n
The lawyers told a press conference yesterday that the IPTN's
\nchoice of settlement came as an unexpected ending to their
\nprevious four meetings since June 17, in which the two sides had
\nnotched significant progress toward out-of-court settlement.<\/p>\n
\"We are sorry that our colleagues from IPTN broke their
\ncommitment (to seek out-of-court settlement) in the last minute.
\nThe decision shows they are not professional,\" said Rudy Lontoh,
\none of the lawyers.<\/p>\n
Another member of the team, Amir Syamsuddin, questioned their
\ncounterparts' sudden change of mind.<\/p>\n
\"Had their advice been heeded by their client, or did they
\nmanage to control their client?\" he said.<\/p>\n
Negotiations between lawyers of the two conflicting parties
\nended up with a deadlock on Aug. 11. Rudy said that both sides
\nhad believed that they would reach a settlement that day,
\nlearning that they had been on verge of striking a deal after the
\nfourth meeting last month.<\/p>\n
The Post's another lawyer, Todung Mulya Lubis, said that the
\nIPTN had asked the daily to reimburse the cost incurred by IPTN
\nto \"safeguard\" its products from the impact of the daily's
\nreport. The request was made during an informal meeting just
\nhours before the scheduled final meeting.<\/p>\n
\"The problem is not whether the Post is capable of paying the
\ncompensation or not, but we think the demand, whatever it is
\ncalled, is a form of punishment.<\/p>\n
\"Since the beginning of our talks, we have rejected the demand
\nbecause it will serve as a precedent which may endanger or even
\ndemolish the national press,\" Todung said.<\/p>\n
Another Post lawyer, Trimoelja D. Soerjadi, called the
\ncompensation demand a bomb shell which spoilt a lot of concession
\nboth parties had agreed upon in the previous four meetings.<\/p>\n
IPTN team of lawyers also announced yesterday their client
\nwould go ahead with their plan to sue the Post over its incorrect
\nreport on an IPTN-made plane which crashed last May, unless the
\ndaily meets two demands in two weeks time.<\/p>\n
The Bandung-based state-owned company told the Post to place a
\nfull-page apology in five national dailies and 11 foreign dailies
\nand magazines for three successive days, and pay compensation as
\nwell. The IPTN did not mention the amount of money in yesterday's
\ndemand.<\/p>\n
Todung insisted that the Post could not fulfill the demands,
\nsaying that they were not in line with settlement suggested by
\nthe Press Law and the Press Code of Ethics.<\/p>\n
However, the team of lawyers expressed their guarded optimism
\nthat a peaceful settlement remained within reach.<\/p>\n
\"Even if the case go to the court, we believe we still have
\nchances to find an amicable settlement pending the start of or
\nduring the legal proceeding. We maintain our commitment to seek a
\npeaceful solution,\" Todung said.<\/p>\n
Todung said the team of lawyers would discuss whether to give
\nresponse to the IPTN demands or not. (amd)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/iptn-post-dispute-likely-to-go-to-court-1447893297",
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