Goenawan's right to sue minister questioned

Goenawan's right to sue minister questioned

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Information Harmoko yesterday
questioned the right of Goenawan Mohamad, former chief editor of
Tempo, to sue him for closing the magazine in June.

Lawyers representing Harmoko told the Jakarta State
Administrative Court that Goenawan did not have the prerogative
to file a lawsuit against the minister.

"Goenawan Mohamad must have the authority from PT. Grafiti
Pers, the legal holder of the Tempo publishing license, in order
to file a suit," R. Wiyono, one of Harmoko's lawyers, said in his
statement.

The publishing license was issued to PT. Grafiti Pers in
December 1985.

The lawyers said even the publisher's statutes do not empower
a chief editor of Tempo to represent the firm in a legal matter.

"Only the company's president has the authority to represent
it inside and/or outside the court," Wiyono said. The company's
president, as declared in the approved publishing license, was
Eric F.H. Samola.

The minister's lawyers claimed that the lawsuit was "vague",
saying that it was unclear whom Goenawan represents in his
lawsuit.

"Does he represent himself or the magazine's employees?"
Wiyono said in the defense, adding that the employees have filed
their own lawsuit against the minister.

The lawyers also claimed that the Jakarta State Administrative
Court does not have the authority to evaluate the contents of the
1945 Constitution.

Goenawan claimed in his lawsuit that he has lost his rights to
express his opinion in writings, as guaranteed by the
constitution, with the revocation of the license.

"It is the authority of the People's Consultative Assembly
(MPR) to evaluate the contents of Article 28 of the 1945
Constitution," the lawyers said.

The article guarantees freedom of expression and assembly.

Legal

The minister's lawyers asked the court, at the end of their
defense statement, to reject Goenawan's lawsuit and to declare
the ministerial decree on the revocation of the magazine's
publishing license legal. They also asked the court to order
Goenawan to pay the trial expenses.

"The minister previously summoned Goenawan to account for the
content of the magazine's articles before finally revoking the
license," they said. "He did not use his right to defend
himself."

Harmoko, who has encouraged Tempo to take the legal course to
settle the issue, was not present at the hearing yesterday.

Tempo, Indonesia's most established current affairs weekly,
lost its publishing license in June along with two other news
magazines, Editor and DeTik. Tempo was closed because of certain
aspects of its editorial content, although the government never
categorically stipulated the articles that were deemed to be
offensive. Editor and DeTik were shut down for administrative
reasons.

Goenawan filed the lawsuit against Harmoko in September,
calling for a review of the revocation of the license and
permission for Tempo to re-establish publication.

He claims that the information ministry abused its power by
closing Tempo on the suspicion that it was irresponsible.

He also challenged the information minister's remarks that
Tempo was banned for the sake of national stability.

"The news reported by Tempo and other media did not disturb
national stability, security, or order. The situation remained
stable, safe and orderly and the development program has
continued."

Many observers believe that the trial has only academic
interest because the magazine's assets have already been
liquidated and the majority of its employees have joined with
timber tycoon Mohammad (Bob) Hasan to start a new magazine called
Gatra. (imn)