Press freedom in danger<\/p>\n
Defying common sense, the South Jakarta District Court chose
\nto denominate the damages in U.S. currency rather than rupiah in
\nits verdict on Tuesday. The court's panel of judges ordered Koran
\nTempo daily to pay US$1 million to business tycoon Tomy Winata
\nafter it found the newspaper guilty of libeling Tomy by citing
\nrumors in its report that he intended to open a casino in
\nSoutheast Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
What makes it more absurd is that in the same decision the
\njudges have used rupiah in their verdict that the daily should be
\nfined Rp 10 million (US$1,190) per day if it fails to comply with
\nthe court's ruling. It is clear that the judges had no respect
\nfor their own country's currency -- and that they merely wanted
\nto please the plaintiff, who demanded compensation in greenbacks.<\/p>\n
The currency issue merely indicates the poor awareness of the
\njudges in enforcing the law. The verdict also shows how law
\nenforcers, once again, have ignored the principle of lex
\nspecialis derogat lex generalis (the application of a specific,
\nrather than a general, law): The court accepted the plaintiff's
\ndemand to penalize the defendant based on the Criminal Code,
\ninstead of applying the press law.<\/p>\n
The judges can no doubt cite any number of legal
\njustifications in defence of their decision, but it only worsens
\nthe image of the South Jakarta District Court, which has reached
\nmany controversial verdicts over the years.<\/p>\n
We do not wish to say that the press is free from mistakes,
\nnor is it our intention to claim that the press is untouchable
\nand can use its freedom as it wants, without restriction.<\/p>\n
Former president Soeharto's fall in May 1998 also ended the
\ngovernment's oppression of the media. Press freedom is back on
\nthe right track but, of course, not without negative excess. It
\nis the obligation of the media to stick to its code of ethics and
\nobey the law.<\/p>\n
However, we also note a very worrying development, in which
\ngovernment officials, powerful politicians and businesspeople
\nseem to have deliberately used legal means to silence their
\nstrongest critics, the media. It is a much more sophisticated and
\nrespected means and thus politically safer, rather than being
\naccused of condoning mass rallies by supporters. The press also
\nacknowledges that using legal means is preferable to cracking
\ndown and jailing journalists, as occurred during Soeharto's era.<\/p>\n
But with the country's glaringly corrupt judicial system it is
\nvery hard to believe that the above legal treatment of the media
\nis purely in the interests of law enforcement alone.<\/p>\n
Members of the elite, from President Megawati Soekarnoputri
\nand Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung to Tomy Winata, now prefer to
\nuse the courts to punish those who highlight something negative
\nabout them. This is despite much campaigning about resorting to
\nvarious types of out-of-court settlement such as complaining
\nfirst to the Press Council.<\/p>\n
In the case of Koran Tempo, if the high court and Supreme
\nCourt simply uphold the South Jakarta District Court's verdict
\nwithout considering the higher public interest -- that press
\nfreedom is a basic pillar of democracy -- we could easily
\nconclude that the daily would have to pay up and close down.
\nShould that precedent be established, more and more media
\norganizations would be driven to bankruptcy.<\/p>\n
Indeed, for narrow-minded people who do not like the presence
\nof a strong press, the bankruptcy of more media means that they
\nno longer need to worry about public scrutiny. For them a
\nweakened national press would mean they had more freedom to do
\nanything they wanted to without outside interference.<\/p>\n
The nation will never be able to reach its eventual goal of
\nthe creation of a strong and sustainable civil society without
\nthe presence of a free, impartial and, of course, responsible
\nmedia.<\/p>\n
We do respect the rights of people who think that they have
\nbeen victimized by the press and thus take their cases to court.
\nThe media must also prepare itself to face this development.<\/p>\n
But it is our duty to remind everyone that it would be too
\ncostly for the nation to let its press be silenced by those who
\nuse their power to crack down on their critics, using the law to
\nachieve that end.<\/p>\n
The South Jakarta District Court has done nothing to dispel
\nthe perception that the verdict against Koran Tempo has merely
\nincreased public dissatisfaction in how the law is enforced.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/press-freedom-in-danger-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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