Use of Press Law urged in 'Tempo' case<\/p>\n
Sri Wahyuni and Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Press Council and legislators questioned on Wednesday the
\nswift preventive confiscation of some of Tempo media group's
\nproperties and proposed that prosecutors use the Press Law
\ninstead of the Criminal Code in media-related cases.<\/p>\n
\"It (the confiscation) has raised a big question mark. It's
\nstrange. How could they do it that fast? It simply confirms once
\nagain the suspicions of a conspiracy, that the court Mafia really
\nexists,\" Press Council chairman Ichlasul Amal told The Jakarta
\nPost in Yogyakarta on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Legislators Amin Said Husni and Djoko Susilo of the National
\nAwakening Party (PKB) and the Reform factions expressed similar
\nconcerns.<\/p>\n
Amin, chairman of the PKB faction, said that judges and
\nprosecutors must uphold the law and be free from intervention.<\/p>\n
Djoko, deputy secretary of the Reform faction, added that the
\nunusual process simply highlighted the deficiencies of the
\ncountry's judicial system.<\/p>\n
They were commenting on the legal battle between Koran Tempo
\ndaily and businessman Tomy Winata, and the confiscation of Tempo
\nproperties.<\/p>\n
Tomy filed a civil suit against Koran Tempo daily and Tempo
\nco-founder Goenawan Mohammad on June 5, 2003, over news articles
\npublished on March 12 and March 13. Tomy is demanding Rp 21
\nbillion (US$2.47 million) in damages for potential material and
\nnon-material losses.<\/p>\n
On July 7, Tomy's lawyers withdrew the complaint but refiled
\nit with the same court on Aug. 8. The panel of judges signed a
\ncourt order for the preventive seizure of Tempo properties on
\nSept. 25, one week after the plaintiff's lawyers submitted their
\nrequest.<\/p>\n
On Monday, the East Jakarta District Court confiscated
\nGoenawan's house in Pulo Mas, East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"Given the developments in this case, the public will assume
\nthat someone powerful out there is controlling our judicial
\nsystem,\" Djoko said.<\/p>\n
He also criticized the use of the Criminal Code instead of the
\nPress Law to handle the case. According to him, this simply
\nshowed the incompetence of the country's legal institution's.<\/p>\n
Ichlasul meanwhile said it was urgent that judges and
\nprosecutors be persuaded to use the Press Law instead of the
\nCriminal Code when dealing with cases involving journalists or
\nthe media. He argued that such cases were special and were
\ngoverned by a special law.<\/p>\n
He noted that the relatively more democratic system brought
\nabout by the reform movement had opened ways for powerful
\nindividuals and institutions to restrict or even clamp down on
\npress freedom in the country.<\/p>\n
Ichlasul, a former rector of Gadjah Mada University, said that
\nunder the authoritarian New Order government, the powerholders
\ncould simply ban a publication. Under the present more democratic
\nsystem, some people were using the law, a legal instrument, to
\nclose down newspapers, he added.<\/p>\n
\"They take advantage of the supremacy of the law. And this can
\nhave a much bigger impact (on press freedom) than the authorities
\nin the past ever had,\" said Ichlasul, citing the preventive
\nseizure of Goenawan's home as an example.<\/p>\n
He said that while in the past people could easily point their
\nfingers at the authorities for acting arbitrarily, today it was
\nmore difficult to see who was involved in such cases. It could
\ninvolve many parties, he said, but one thing was sure: they would
\nall be very powerful.<\/p>\n
Ichlasul also underlined the need for changes to the Criminal
\nCode through the taking take out of articles related to the press
\nand their incorporation into the Press Law instead.<\/p>\n
\"This (Press Law) has to be revised and this can be done in
\ntandem with the revision of the Criminal Code itself,\" Ichlasul
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights has proposed that the
\nCode be revised to include articles criminalizing witchcraft and
\ncertain sexual activities.<\/p>\n
The Press Council, according to Ichlasul, would hold a meeting
\nnext week to discuss the proposed revision of the Press Law to
\nmake it more effective as a special law for media-related legal
\ncases.<\/p>\n
\"We also plan to invite the Minister of Justice and Human
\nRights to discuss the issues,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The Press Council will also decide whether it will issue an
\nofficial statement regarding the Tempo case. It has yet to issue
\none on the ground that the matter is sub judice.<\/p>",
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