'Tempo' charged with violating 'primitive' law<\/p>\n
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The trial of Tempo journalists accused of defaming businessman
\nTomy Winata started at the Central Jakarta District Court on
\nMonday, with the prosecution charging Bambang Harymurti, Ahmad
\nTaufik and Iskandar Ali of violating Article 14(1) of the 1946
\nCriminal Code.<\/p>\n
Monday's trial was the latest in a total of eight legal cases
\nresulting from a story published by the weekly in March, which
\nimplied that Tomy could have benefited from the devastating
\nFebruary 2003 fire at the Tanah Abang Market in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The article in question apparently angered supporters of Tomy
\nWinata, who responded by besieging the Tempo office and allegedly
\nattacking several of its journalists on March 8 inside the
\nnewsroom.<\/p>\n
If found guilty of deliberately publishing a news report to
\nprovoke unrest, the defendants could face up to 10 years in jail.<\/p>\n
During separate hearings at the Central Jakarta District
\nCourt, the prosecutors also charged the three with violating
\nArticles 310 and 311 of the Criminal Code on defamation, which
\ncarries a maximum penalty of four years in prison if the
\ndefendants cannot provide evidence to substantiate their report.<\/p>\n
In 1999, articles 310 and 311 were added to the 1946 Criminal
\nCode.<\/p>\n
Bambang Harymurti, who is the weekly's chief editor, asked the
\ncourt to exonerate reporter Ahmad Taufik from all charges, saying
\n\"a reporter cannot be prosecuted because of a story the reporter
\nwrote as the decision to run the story or not is in the hands of
\nthe editors\".<\/p>\n
Citing Law No. 40\/1999 on the media, Bambang said that any
\nprosecution of media people should be based on whether or not a
\njournalist had followed the proper procedures in gathering the
\nmaterials for a story and in publishing it.<\/p>\n
\"How can anyone put the content of an article on trial ...
\nthere is no such thing as an absolute truth ... People should not
\nbe jailed for expressing their opinion. The failure to use the
\nmedia law in this case is not only an insult to the press, but
\nalso shows that the country is still using primitive laws,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Presiding judge Andriani Nurdin adjourned the hearings to hear
\nthe defense statements on Sept. 29.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, at the South Jakarta District Court, the trial of
\nthe managing editor of Jakarta-based Rakyat Merdeka daily,
\nSupratman, was postponed because presiding judge Zoeber Djajadi
\nwas still out of town.<\/p>\n
The hearing would resume on Wednesday to hear the prosecutor's
\nsentence demand against the defendant.<\/p>\n
Supratman is charged with insulting the president and vice
\npresident by publishing four front page articles on the
\ngovernment's policies, a violation of a Criminal Code article
\nthat carries a maximum penalty of 16 months in jail.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, the daily ran articles with eye-catching
\nheadlines -- mostly quotes by antigovernment demonstrators --
\nsuch as Mulut Mega bau solar (Mega's mouth smells of diesel
\nfuel), which was accompanied by a picture depicting a fat woman
\ndrinking diesel fuel and Mega lebih kejam dari Sumanto (Mega is
\ncrueler than Sumanto), referring to a notorious Javanese cannibal
\nnow in jail in Central Java.<\/p>\n
In a related development, Rakyat Merdeka's former chief
\neditor, Karim Paputungan, appealed his sentence of five months
\nprobation also handed down the South Jakarta District Court.<\/p>\n
The judges declared Karim guilty of criminal besmirchment of
\nGolkar Party chairman Akbar Tandjung after a caricature of him
\nwith his shirt off was published after his guilty verdict for his
\nrole in a Rp 40 billion (US$4.8 million) corruption case that
\ntook place in 1999. Akbar remains free pending the Supreme
\nCourt's hearing of his appeal.<\/p>",
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