IPTN, 'Post' dispute likely to go to court

IPTN, 'Post' dispute likely to go to court

JAKARTA (JP): Lawyers representing The Jakarta Post accepted
but regretted yesterday the state-owned aircraft maker PT IPTN's
plan to bring their dispute to court.

The lawyers told a press conference yesterday that the IPTN's
choice of settlement came as an unexpected ending to their
previous four meetings since June 17, in which the two sides had
notched significant progress toward out-of-court settlement.

"We are sorry that our colleagues from IPTN broke their
commitment (to seek out-of-court settlement) in the last minute.
The decision shows they are not professional," said Rudy Lontoh,
one of the lawyers.

Another member of the team, Amir Syamsuddin, questioned their
counterparts' sudden change of mind.

"Had their advice been heeded by their client, or did they
manage to control their client?" he said.

Negotiations between lawyers of the two conflicting parties
ended up with a deadlock on Aug. 11. Rudy said that both sides
had believed that they would reach a settlement that day,
learning that they had been on verge of striking a deal after the
fourth meeting last month.

The Post's another lawyer, Todung Mulya Lubis, said that the
IPTN had asked the daily to reimburse the cost incurred by IPTN
to "safeguard" its products from the impact of the daily's
report. The request was made during an informal meeting just
hours before the scheduled final meeting.

"The problem is not whether the Post is capable of paying the
compensation or not, but we think the demand, whatever it is
called, is a form of punishment.

"Since the beginning of our talks, we have rejected the demand
because it will serve as a precedent which may endanger or even
demolish the national press," Todung said.

Another Post lawyer, Trimoelja D. Soerjadi, called the
compensation demand a bomb shell which spoilt a lot of concession
both parties had agreed upon in the previous four meetings.

IPTN team of lawyers also announced yesterday their client
would go ahead with their plan to sue the Post over its incorrect
report on an IPTN-made plane which crashed last May, unless the
daily meets two demands in two weeks time.

The Bandung-based state-owned company told the Post to place a
full-page apology in five national dailies and 11 foreign dailies
and magazines for three successive days, and pay compensation as
well. The IPTN did not mention the amount of money in yesterday's
demand.

Todung insisted that the Post could not fulfill the demands,
saying that they were not in line with settlement suggested by
the Press Law and the Press Code of Ethics.

However, the team of lawyers expressed their guarded optimism
that a peaceful settlement remained within reach.

"Even if the case go to the court, we believe we still have
chances to find an amicable settlement pending the start of or
during the legal proceeding. We maintain our commitment to seek a
peaceful solution," Todung said.

Todung said the team of lawyers would discuss whether to give
response to the IPTN demands or not. (amd)