TNI demands 'Washington Post' apology<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Lawyers representing the Indonesian Military (TNI) rejected on
\nThursday a peaceful solution to their client's dispute with The
\nWashington Post over a report of the military's alleged
\ninvolvement in an ambush against employees of a gold and copper
\nmining firm in August.<\/p>\n
The lawyers sent legal notification on Thursday to the Post
\nand its representatives in Indonesia, Alan Sipress and Allen
\nNakashima, demanding that the newspaper apologize for its report.<\/p>\n
Calling the report libelous, attorney Trimoelja D. Soerjadi
\nsaid his client demanded that the apology appear in five foreign
\nnewspapers, including the Post, and five newspapers in Indonesia
\nas well as on the Post's website, which had published the report.<\/p>\n
\"If they refuse to meet the demand within 14 days, we will
\ntake the newspaper to court,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The Post ran a story reporting that senior military officers
\nmay have planned the ambush against employees of PT Freeport
\nIndonesia in Timika, Papua, on Aug. 31. Two Americans and an
\nIndonesian were killed in the attack.<\/p>\n
Citing \"highly reliable\" sources and other information, the
\nnewspaper said that prior to the ambush, several officers,
\nincluding TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, allegedly discussed
\nan operation against Freeport with the ultimate aim of
\ndiscrediting the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM).<\/p>\n
Todung Mulya Lubis, the lawyer representing the Post, said
\nthat his client followed the principle of covering both sides of
\nthe story according to the journalists' code of ethics, by
\nincluding the military spokesman's denial of the incident.<\/p>\n
But Trimoelja said that its claim of providing balanced
\nreporting could not justify the media to print a false story.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tni-demands-washington-post-apology-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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