'Tempo' ban declared lawful<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Supreme Court yesterday overturned a
\ndecision by the Jakarta State Administrative Court allowing the
\nrespected news weekly Tempo to resume publication after a 1994
\ngovernment ban.<\/p>\n
Chief Justice Soerjono, who presided over the hearing at the
\nSupreme Court's main hall, said in his verdict that the
\nInformation Minister's decision to revoke the magazine's
\npublishing license was "lawful".<\/p>\n
"The ministerial decree revoking the publishing license of
\nTempo was not against the No. 21\/1982 Law on Press Affairs,"
\nSoerjono told a packed court room.<\/p>\n
The verdict was absorbed in silence by former Tempo employees,
\nincluding former editor-in-chief Goenawan Mohamad. Goenawan said
\nhe had suspected that the magazine would lose its case against
\nthe government.<\/p>\n
Tempo was closed down in June 1994, together with two other
\npublications, Editor and DeTik. Tempo was faulted for its
\neditorial content, while the banning of Editor and DeTik was
\nattributed to "administrative violations".<\/p>\n
Soerjono said that the information minister had the authority
\nto revoke the magazine's license, if the terms under which the
\nlicense was issued were not upheld.<\/p>\n
"The Supreme Court accepted the appeal of Minister of
\nInformation Harmoko," he said in the tightly guarded hearing.<\/p>\n
He also said that there were enough reasons to grant the
\nminister's appeal and overturn the decision by the Jakarta State
\nAdministrative High Court and, earlier, the lower court.<\/p>\n
"Both the Jakarta State Administrative Court and the Jakarta
\nState Administrative High Court were not consistent in their
\nlegal arguments when they made the rulings in Tempo's favor," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The High Court in November upheld a court decision reached in
\nMay, which ruled against the ministerial decree. Harmoko then
\nappealed against the verdict, while the ban was maintained
\npending the appeal.<\/p>\n
The hearing attracted a crowd of almost a thousand of people,
\nincluding Attorney General Singgih, Justice Adi Andojo Soetjipto,
\nand former deputy chief editor of Tempo Fikri Jufri.<\/p>\n
Most of those present did not look particularly surprised. The
\nthrong of around 100 journalists covering the hearing immediately
\nrushed to Goenawan Mohamad to ask for his comments.<\/p>\n
"I am not surprised with the Supreme Court's decision," he
\nsaid with a stony face.<\/p>\n
"Our fight for press freedom through legal action is now over.
\nBut we will continue that struggle through other channels," he
\ncalled out; this was greeted by cheers from those present.<\/p>\n
He said he would respect the Court's decision, despite the
\nfact that he could not accept the points raised by the Court in
\nits verdict.<\/p>\n
Adnan Buyung Nasution, one of the lawyers of Tempo, said the
\nverdict was "ominous for the Indonesian press".<\/p>\n
"The Supreme Court decision should be interpreted as a warning
\nfor the Indonesian press. There's no respect for press freedom,"
\nhe told reporters.<\/p>\n
"There had been hopes that the Supreme Court would uphold
\njustice. Now all of our hopes are dashed," he said.<\/p>\n
Separately, Director of Press and Graphics of the Information
\nMinistry Subrata said the Supreme Court's decision was binding.<\/p>\n
"We have to respect it, and accept it with grace. This is not
\na matter of winning or losing," he told reporters at his office
\nyesterday, speculating that the Supreme Court "must have had its
\nown reasons" to hand down a ruling different from the two
\nprevious ones.<\/p>\n
He refused to say whether the ministry would issue a new
\nlicense for the former Tempo journalists if they asked for it.<\/p>\n
"Don't expect anything," he said.<\/p>\n
Todung Mulya Lubis, another lawyer for Tempo, separately said
\nthe Supreme Court judges had discounted the principles stipulated
\nin Law No. 21\/1982 on Press Affairs, and evidence collected
\nduring previous hearing sessions.<\/p>\n
For instance, the Supreme Court had not taken into account the
\nfact that the Minister of Information had failed to seek the
\nadvice of the Press Honorary Council before revoking the license.<\/p>\n
Lubis said his client would not ask for a review of the
\nSupreme Court's decision. "This is the farthest we can go through
\nthe legal system. We'll stop here," he said.<\/p>\n
Amir Syamsuddin, yet another lawyer of Tempo, however, said
\nthere is still the possibility that the magazine would take
\nanother legal measure.<\/p>\n
"We'll look at all ways to have the Court's decision
\nreviewed," he said. (imn\/01)<\/p>\n
Comments -- Page 2<\/p>\n
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