Journalists association suspends Medan tabloid editor

Journalists association suspends Medan tabloid editor

JAKARTA (JP): The Honorary Council of the Indonesian
Journalists' Association (PWI) has suspended the membership of
Bintang-Sport-Film (BSF) weekly's chief editor for publishing
reports on an alleged case of sexual harassment involving the
governor of North Sumatra.

Romuthu Setia Dharma was suspended for two years, beginning
Aug. 5, for publishing reports "which are not supported by facts
and accurate data and in nature defaming the dignity and
integrity of North Sumatra governor Raja Inal Siregar," according
to a press release signed by PWI chairman Sofjan Lubis and deputy
secretary Soegyarto PS.

The Council said the weekly had violated PWI's Code of Ethics
by running a series of articles on the alleged harassment from
June 1 to Aug. 1.

In its deliberation, the Council said that Romuthu had failed
to comply with the principle of presumption of innocence and
displayed poor judgment in deciding to run the articles.

Antara reported on Tuesday that the Council had accused the
magazine of exaggerating the inaccurate data in each edition. It
claims that the tabloid distorted the story of a woman who
accused Siregar of sexually harassing her in an attempt to win a
government contract.

The woman later withdrew the accusation while Minister of Home
Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M. issued a statement saying that the
governor was not guilty of any wrongdoing.

The Council also warned the Waspada, Sinar Pagi and Sentana
newspapers for their coverage of the reports following a
complaint filed by the governor. (par)