'Press Council not consulted over 'Tempo' ban'<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Senior journalist Goenawan Mohamad, who is
\nmounting a court challenge to the government's 1994 decision to
\nclose his Tempo news magazine, says the Press Council was not
\nconsulted prior to the move.<\/p>\n
Goenawan told a hearing in the Jakarta State Administrative
\nCourt yesterday that at least three members of the council he had
\nspoken to had said they had had no prior knowledge when the
\ngovernment revoked Tempo's publishing license.<\/p>\n
By government regulation, the Press Council, the industry's
\nwatchdog agency, should first be consulted before the government
\nrevokes the publishing license of a newspaper or magazine.<\/p>\n
But Minister of Information Harmoko, who chairs the council,
\nhas insisted that the council members were notified of the move
\nbeforehand.<\/p>\n
It was Harmoko's office which revoked the licenses of the
\nthree newsweeklies Tempo, Editor and DeTik in June last year.
\nTempo was faulted for its editorial content, while the banning of
\nEditor and DeTik was attributed to administrative violations.<\/p>\n
Goenawan, a director and a founding editor of Tempo, is suing
\nHarmoko over the ban in the Jakarta State Administrative Court. A
\ngroup of former Tempo employees has filed a separate lawsuit
\nagainst the minister in the same court. Both suits, heard
\nseparately yesterday, challenged the legality of the minister's
\nban.<\/p>\n
\"The revocation of a driver's license is decided by a court.
\nHow come the revocation of a publishing license is not?\" Goenawan
\nasked yesterday, while testifying in the hearing of the former
\nTempo employees' suit.<\/p>\n
\"The decision to revoke Tempo's publishing license was not
\npreceded by a meeting of the Press Council,\" Goenawan stated in
\nresponse to a question from Judge Benjamin Mangkoedilaga.<\/p>\n
He said he had discussed the background to the ban with Jakob
\nOetama, Handjojo Nitimihardjo, and Nurcholis Madjid, three
\nmembers of the Press Council. None of them recalled having a
\nmeeting to discuss the ban, he added.<\/p>\n
Goenawan said Nurcholis had stated that he did not agree with
\nthe revocation of the Tempo's publishing license.<\/p>\n
He also recalled that a week before the ban was issued, he had
\nasked Jakob and Handjojo about whether something was going to
\nhappen to his magazine because he heard rumors that something was
\nup. \"Both men told me that nothing untoward would happen to
\nTempo.\"<\/p>\n
Goenawan admitted that Tempo had received several warnings,
\nsome by phone and others written, but said there was no way of
\ntelling which of these were to be considered strong warnings and
\nwhich ones were not.<\/p>\n
Subrata, the Director General of Press and Graphics at the
\nMinistry of Information, had earlier said that Tempo had been
\nserved with six written warnings, including three stern ones, and
\nno less than 33 verbal warnings between 1982 and June 1994.<\/p>\n
Goenawan and the magazine's former employees are represented
\nin the hearings by top human rights lawyers including Todung
\nMulya Lubis, Trimoelja D. Soerjadi, and Atmajaya Salim. Harmoko
\nis represented by eight lawyers led by R. Wiyono<\/p>\n
Goenawan said that as a result of the ban, the magazine had to
\nterminate the employment of all its 225 employees as of Oct. 31.<\/p>\n
The magazine's proprietor paid Rp 4 billion ($1.8 million) in
\nseverance pay and another Rp 2.5 billion in income taxes at the
\nend of that month.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in the Goenawan vs Harmoko lawsuit, Harjoko
\nTrisnadi, Tempo's former business manager, said there was
\nconfusion about the way the license was revoked.<\/p>\n
He said the publishing license was issued to PT Grafiti Pers,
\nthe magazine's publishing company, but the revocation notice was
\ngiven to the magazine's editorial management.<\/p>\n
The publishing firm has never received a notice or a copy of
\none, Harjoko said.<\/p>\n
Harjoko said that he had later met with Subrata to ask about
\nthe procedures but the official had simply responded that the
\ndecision was final. (imn)<\/p>",
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