Another blow to the press freedom

Another blow to the press freedom

Another swan song was sung for the country's press freedom when the Central Jakarta District Court ordered Trust magazine to pay Rp 1 billion (US$112.360) in a libel case against John Hamenda and his company PT Petindo Perkasa. The court also ordered Trust to apologize in a one-page ad in its edition.

The court verdict apparently drew questions, especially because the panel of judges considered that Trust had failed to maintain journalistic standards of conduct in its report. However, witnesses for Trust, from the Indonesia Press Council, testified that the reports did not violate the Indonesian journalistic code of ethics.

More interesting is the fact that John Hamenda, the plaintiff, is now being detained over a BNI bank credit scam. The police have submitted Hamenda's dossier to the prosecutor's office for further legal processing.

What Trust did was based on the Press Law on control, criticism, correction and suggestions for anything relating to the public interest. Trust should have been protected by law.

Therefore, it is imperative that Trust seeks legal protection from the Supreme Court in addition to its appeal to the provincial high court.

The Supreme Court should assign an independent team to investigate the case, or else press freedom will always be in jeopardy. -- Koran Tempo, Jakarta