The 'Tempo' verdict<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court yesterday overturned a decision pronounced
\nlast November by the Jakarta Administrative High Court, which
\nordered Minister of Information Harmoko to issue a permit
\nallowing the news magazine, Tempo, to resume publication.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court ruled that the revocation of Tempo's
\npublishing permit is not the same as a ban, which is illegal
\nunder the 1966 Press Law. Thus Minister Harmoko's decision to
\nrevoke the permit cannot be qualified as an arbitrary act.<\/p>\n
For many the verdict came as no surprise at all. They had
\npredicted that in the current political situation there was no
\nchance of Tempo reappearing. For one thing, according to this
\nargument, allowing Tempo to resume publication would not only
\ncause the government to lose face but would also have encouraged
\nother people to follow suit. It also could have damaged the
\ngovernment's reputation and eventually disrupted national
\nstability. Therefore, the argument goes, members of the press
\nshould remain under control and behave lest they have their
\npermits revoked.<\/p>\n
What comes as a surprise is the Supreme Court's ruling that a
\nrevocation and a ban are not the same thing. For many, the ruling
\nis just the twisting of legal terminology. The revocation of a
\npublishing permit is nothing but a ban, which means that the
\naffected publication is forced to close.<\/p>\n
Understandably, several critics have commented that the
\nverdict is nothing but a political decision. But does this imply
\nthat the independence of the Supreme Court, which is perceived as
\nthe last bastion of justice in our country, has been subordinated
\nto politics?<\/p>\n
Frankly speaking, this is a difficult question to answer. But
\nthe fact remains that over the last several years more and more
\npeople have begun to question the integrity of the current
\nSupreme Court. The issue of collusion on the Supreme Court that
\nwas raised recently by Deputy Chief Justice Adi Andojo, and later
\ndenied officially by Chief Justice Soerjono, has caused
\nconsiderable damage to the Court's reputation. The Tempo verdict
\nwill undoubtedly aggravate the situation.<\/p>\n
But does this mean that we should lose our faith in our
\njudicial system?<\/p>\n
We do not think so. The fact that the Jakarta Administrative
\nCourt and the Jakarta Administrative High Court had the guts to
\ndefy the powers that be and to declare that the minister of
\ninformation's banning of Tempo was illegal, shows that there are
\nstill judges with the courage to challenge the system.<\/p>\n
One should also remember that both sides -- former chief
\neditor of Tempo Goenawan Mohamad and Minister of Information
\nHarmoko -- from the very beginning agreed to settle the matter in
\ncourt, and that both agreed to respect the ruling of the Supreme
\nCourt. Now the verdict has been handed down. Disappointed with it
\nas one may be, one should respect it and accept it as a product
\nof the current system.<\/p>\n
One might also regard the verdict as a reminder to the media
\nhere that the years of living dangerously still prevail.
\nRegardless, this should not discourage the media from continuing
\nwith its honorable duty or from striving for greater freedom of
\nexpression.<\/p>\n
Whatever the case, Tempo is history now. For many of its
\nfaithful readers, it will be remembered as a fine news magazine
\nwhich served them for 23 years with quality and enlightening
\nreports. In the end it succumbed to the will of a political
\nsystem. It tried to contest the decision and succeeded by winning
\ntwo battles in court, though it ultimately lost in the third.<\/p>\n
Yet this does not mean that the war has been lost. In the
\nstruggle for more democracy and press freedom, there is no end to
\nthe journey.<\/p>",
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