'Blow to democracy'

'Blow to democracy'

Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

International and domestic observers lambasted on Thursday the
guilty verdict against Tempo magazine's chief editor Bambang
Harymurti and called it a setback for the country's press freedom
and democracy.

The chief editor of leading daily Kompas, Suryopratomo, said
he feared the defamation verdict and one-year sentence would set
bad precedent for criminalization of the press.

"We worry that in the future all mistakes committed by the
media will be perceived as errors by design that are driven by
hatred or ill will," he said.

Bambang was found guilty of defaming businessman Tomy Winata
in an article that appeared in the March 3-9, 2003 edition of the
magazine. The article questioned whether there was a link between
Tomy and the fire that razed the Tanah Abang textile market in
Central Jakarta.

Fellow defendants, Tempo journalists Ahmad Taufik and Iskandar
Ali Thamrin, were acquitted on the grounds that they were not
responsible for the publication of the "defamatory" article.

Press Council senior member Sabam Leo Batubara said the court
ruling proved there was unfairness and inconsistency in the
interpretation of the country's law.

"Just a couple of days ago, under the same law, the Jakarta
High Court overturned the district court's verdict against Tempo
for an unsubstantiated report and defamation. Today, the court
here did something completely different. Where is the fairness
then?" wondered Sabam.

He was referring to a civil lawsuit filed by Tomy on the same
matter.

The international community, which had closely followed the
trial of Bambang and his reporters, likened the verdict to a
return to dictatorship.

The president of International Federation of Journalists
(IFJ), Christopher Warren, said the verdict continued "a deeply
disturbing trend mirroring the darkest days of the Soeharto
regime for media freedom in Indonesia."

"This is a sad day for press freedom in Indonesia. No
journalist should ever be jailed for defamation," Warren said.

IFJ legal expert James Nolan said the verdict had the
potential for a chilling effect on press freedom by hampering
journalism on a day-to-day basis.

United States Embassy press attache M. Max Kwak told The
Jakarta Post he was delighted by the acquittal of Taufik and
Iskandar, but was "saddened" by the conviction of Bambang.

"While it is the responsibility of the Indonesian court to
rule on the case before them in accordance with the Indonesian
laws, we have concern about the legal process that leads to the
imprisonment of professional journalists and creates
circumstances that could damage Indonesia's democracy," said
Kwak.

Separately, the European Union said in its statement it would
continue monitoring carefully the trials during the appeal
process.

"The EU regards press freedom and the freedom of information
as crucial democratic values," it said.

Suryopratomo, however, said the verdict should teach the
national media a lesson to improve its professionalism.

Kompas, he said, now required all its reporters to verify all
facts and stick to accepted standards.

"We are no longer just required to cover both sides, but also
to verify facts, which is not easy as most of our journalists are
not used to it," he said.

Hundreds of people who were divided into supporters of Tempo
and Tomy thronged the street in front of the court on Jl. Gadjah
Mada during the hearing, singing songs and carrying signs, mostly
cheering for their side.