'Kompas' and TPI settle allegations amicably

JAKARTA (JP): The leading Kompas daily reached an amicable settlement with a group calling itself the Team of Defenders of Islam (TPI) following allegations that the daily had printed unfounded reports which were disruptive to the Islamic community.

In a written statement read by Kompas' deputy chief editor, Ninok Leksono, the daily conceded it had not "checked and rechecked news sources" and that the articles published had caused "unrest and misunderstanding among people, particularly the Islamic community".

The Indonesia Committee for World Moslems Solidarity (KISDI) launched a protest last month against Kompas claiming that its editorial on violence in Algeria had slandered Islam.

The protest spread as 119 leading Islamic figures, including Amien Rais, Deliar Noer and Kuntowijoyo, signed a petition supporting KISDI's protest and a team of lawyers under the banner of TPI was soon formed to press their grievance further.

Kompas agreed to a meeting with TPI which was held on Monday. The result of the meeting was a joint statement in which the two sides agreed to amicably settle the case.

In the statement, Kompas acknowledged that it had made mistakes in its articles concerning the 1974 Indonesian Marriage Law and the political turmoil in Turkey and Algeria.

The two-page statement was signed by Kompas general manager and chief editor Jakob Oetama.

Kompas also agreed to publish the statement as a half-page advertisement and also place it in the Suara Hidayatullah and Media Dakwah magazines.

At yesterday's press conference to announce the statement, Jakob maintained that the apology was made without pressure from any party.

"I would like to express my sincere apology for the mistakes," he said.

He noted that human beings were never free of mistakes, and promised that Kompas would do its best to avoid repeating them in the future. (10)