AJI wins lawsuit against governor

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Central Jakarta District Court ordered Governor Sutiyoso on Monday to apologize to a reporter who had been intimidated by city public order officers.

The court's decision, which was delivered by presiding judge Andi Samsan Ngaro, was in response to demands contained in a lawsuit filed by the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) on behalf of reporter Edi Hariyadi of Warta Kota daily.

Besides Sutiyoso, the court also ordered the East Jakarta mayor, the East Jakarta public order office chief and a public order officer to apologize to Edi Hariyadi.

However, the court did not state exactly how Sutiyoso should apologize -- whether it should be directly or via the mass media, detik.com online news said.

However, the court rejected AJI's demand that the defendants pay compensation totaling Rp 100 million, earlier planned to be spent on T-shirts printed with the slogan, "Don't Beat Journalists".

The court also rejected a demand that the defendants buy copies of Law No. 40/1999 on press freedom and distribute them to public order officers.

Both AJI's lawyers, led by Azas Tigor Nainggolan, and Sutiyoso's, were still considering whether or not to appeal against the court's decision.

The incident under consideration occurred on March 27, 2002, when Edi Hariyadi reported on an eviction carried out by public order officers on the occupants of houses on Jl. Cakung, Cilincing, East Jakarta.

One of the officers, Dapot Manihuruk, tried to prevent Edi from covering the eviction but the reporter refused to comply. Since that time Edi was often subject to intimidation.

AJI's lawsuit was the first to be won by a non-governmental organization (NGO) against government officials. Last year, several individuals, including pedicab drivers and liquefied petroleum gas consumers, with support from NGOs, were also successful in class actions.