Hearing adjourned to allow settlement out to court

JAKARTA (JP): A judge at the South Jakarta District Court has postponed the hearing of a civil lawsuit to allow the two parties to settle their dispute out of court.

"I give you until March 13 to settle the dispute by yourselves," said presiding judge T.H.S. Pardede in a hearing held at the district court on Thursday.

Judge Pardede was hearing a lawsuit filed by three Jakarta- based journalists who were banned from covering the Attorney General's Office. Pardede was scheduled to announce a verdict on Thursday.

The judge denied he had frequently asked the two parties to settle the case out of court.

"In a civil case, the judge is obliged by the norms of the law to always offer an out-of-court settlement to the disputing parties," he said after the hearing.

The three journalists -- Bambang Wahyu of Kompas daily, Roy Pakpahan of Suara Bangsa afternoon daily and Driantama of RCTI private television station -- filed a civil lawsuit against the Attorney General's Office last July. They demanded Rp 1 billion (US$149,250) each in nonmaterial losses after being banned from covering news at the office from June 8 to June 10, 1999.

The banning of the three journalists was announced by the head of general affairs at the office, Zainuddin Jahisa, on June 8.

Zainuddin said the three journalists had been rude to then attorney general Andi M. Ghalib during a media conference on May 26 following the installment of a senior official at the office.

Driantama said after the hearing the three journalists recently renewed their demand that the Attorney General's Office issue a public apology, adding that they were not demanding monetary compensation.

"We demanded the office publicly apologize to the journalists through five national print media," he said after the hearing.

The lawyer representing the journalists, Apong Herlina, said current Attorney General Marzuki Darusman expressed his readiness to meet the journalists' demand for an apology three months ago.

"He promised to set up a meeting to discuss the technicalities of fulfilling the demand," said Apong, who is also head of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute.

"The invitation from the Attorney General's Office, however, has yet to reach the lawyers," he said.

Warih Sadono, the lawyer representing the Attorney General's Office, said he would confirm with the attorney general whether the office had agreed to comply with the journalists' demand.

"I have not heard this statement from my client, but I will consult with him," he said. (asa)