Editor tells court he is only a 'messenger'

Editor tells court he is only a 'messenger'

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Rakyat Merdeka daily newspaper managing editor Supratman told the
South Jakarta District Court on Wednesday that he was just
conveying the people's response to the government and was not
deliberately attempting to insult President Megawati
Soekarnoputri.

"I'm just a messenger of the people, which is one of my duties
as a journalist. What we delivered were merely criticism of the
government's policies to increase the prices of fuel, telephone
calls and electricity, not the president's personality or post."

Supratman, who is responsible for the daily's front page, is
charged with insulting the president with four headlines
published between January and February, including Mega the
profiteer on Jan. 8, Mega's mouth smells of diesel fuel on Jan. 6
and Mega in the same league as a regent on Feb. 4, 2003.

Prosecutor Arnold Angkouw demanded a one-year jail sentence
for Supratman for violating Article 134 of the Criminal Code on
defamation of the president and vice president, which is
punishable by a maximum six years in jail.

Supratman's team of lawyers, led by Adnan Buyung Nasution,
said the headlines were statements quoted to reporters from
demonstrating students and observers interviewed on their
responses to the government's policies.

"The prosecutors failed to see that the defendant should not
be incriminated with insulting the President .... The defendant
was only doing his duty as a journalist and the articles are in
line with the Law No. 40/1999 on press and the Press Code of
Ethics," Buyung concluded.

Presiding judge Zoeber Djajadi adjourned the trial to Oct. 6.

The paper's former chief editor, Karim Paputungan, was earlier
sentenced to five months jail, suspended for 10 months, by the
Central Jakarta District Court for insulting House of
Representatives speaker Akbar Tandjung.