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.