'Time' did not libel Soeharto: Witnesses<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Two witnesses testified before the Central
\nJakarta District Court on Tuesday that a May 24, 1999 cover story
\nof New York-based Time magazine did not defame the good name of
\nformer president Soeharto.<\/p>\n
Senior journalist Goenawan Mohammad and communication law
\nexpert Andi Abdul Muis said the magazine's cover story was
\nwritten within universally accepted standards of journalism.<\/p>\n
\"Reports on public figures are common in journalism and cannot
\nbe considered as slanderous.<\/p>\n
\"A public figure is like a book, that all people can read,\"
\nsaid Muis, a communication law professor at the Makassar-based
\nHasanuddin University.<\/p>\n
Muis, who was the first witness to testify on Tuesday, cited
\nthe affair between United States president Bill Clinton and
\nformer White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, that received
\nenormous print media attention in the US.<\/p>\n
Around 40 spectators packed the main courtroom during the four
\nhour hearing that started at 10 a.m. Soeharto was represented by
\nlawyers Juan Felix Tampubolon, O.C. Kaligis, Indriyanto Seno
\nAdji, Mohammad Assegaff and Denny Kailimang, while the magazine
\nwas represented by lawyers Todung Mulya Lubis and Lelyana
\nSantosa.<\/p>\n
Kaligis, who spoke after Muis, challenged the witness.<\/p>\n
\"Is that the cost that a public figure must pay?\" he asked.<\/p>\n
The 71-year-old professor answered with a brief, \"Yes, that's
\nabout it.\"<\/p>\n
Goenawan, who testified after Muis, also said the magazine's
\ncover story did not defame the former president.<\/p>\n
\"A harsh criticism against a public figure is not categorized
\nas defaming him\/her, as long as the journalist writes the report
\naccording to journalistic principles, without personal animosity
\nagainst the person,\" Goenawan, former Editor-in-Chief of Tempo
\nweekly magazine, told the hearing, presided over by judge Sihol
\nSitompoel.<\/p>\n
\"A public figure should always be criticized and held
\nresponsible for his or her statements or policies,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Soeharto filed the lawsuit against the magazine in July last
\nyear. The lawsuit demands the magazine pay Rp 189 trillion (US$27
\nbillion) to the former strongman for the article that suggested
\nthat he and his family had amassed a US$15 billion fortune during
\nhis 32-year reign.<\/p>\n
The debate extended into whether the cover of the magazine and
\na picture of Soeharto was considered slanderous.<\/p>\n
The magazine's cover showed a picture of Soeharto with a large
\nUS$100 banknote as the background, while on the sixteenth page,
\nthe magazine published a photograph of Soeharto hugging several
\nluxury houses.<\/p>\n
Muis said the photograph could not be categorized slanderous.<\/p>\n
\"People have different perceptions of the pictures. Some
\npeople said it was slanderous, but others might say the former
\npresident is grateful for God's gifts,\" he said, turning the
\nspectators into laughter.<\/p>\n
Goenawan supported the statement, saying he categorized the
\npictures as caricatures.<\/p>\n
\"It is common everywhere that a caricature has a cynical
\ncharacteristic,\" he said, while citing that it was people who
\nwould determine whether the pictures were slanderous.<\/p>\n
Another tenet debated in the hearing was about the
\njournalistic principle of objectively covering both sides.<\/p>\n
Goenawan said a journalist was considered to be applying the
\n\"cover both sides\" principle if she or he interviewed all sources
\nrelated to a story, including the source's opponents.<\/p>\n
\"If the journalist is not able to interview the primary
\nsource, she or he is allowed to write statements from other
\npeople representing the primary source,\" Goenawan, now a senior
\njournalist with Tempo, said.<\/p>\n
He said the magazine printed on the May edition's eighteenth
\npage, \"Neither Soeharto nor his six children responded to
\nrequests for interviews, though lawyers representing Soeharto
\n(Tampubolon and Kaligis) asserted that their clients did nothing
\nillegal.\"(asa)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/time-did-not-libel-soeharto-witnesses-1447893297",
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