Live broadcast of Oki trial sparks mixed reactions

JAKARTA (JP): The live broadcast of a murder trial is the first of its kind in Indonesian broadcasting, experts said yesterday.

Daniel Dhakidae, a researcher on press issues, and Andi Muis, an expert in legal aspects of communications, said separately that to their knowledge audiences here have never witnessed a live broadcast of a trial.

"If this continues it will be a new trend in broadcasting," Andi told The Jakarta Post of the hearing aired from the Central Jakarta District Court yesterday.

The experts were commenting on yesterday's broadcast on privately-owned ANteve station of the trial of suspect Harnoko Dewantono, alias Oki.

Daniel, a researcher at the Kompas daily, said although he did not watch the broadcast his impression was that the court, or the judge who chaired the trial, must be very brave in allowing the live broadcast.

"They must be quite brave, because the case has been controversial from the beginning," Daniel said.

Oki is charged with murdering a female friend, an Indian business partner and his younger brother in the United States

Luhut Pangaribuan, director of the Legal Aid Institute in Jakarta, had the same opinion, saying that the broadcast could be meant to educate viewers about court procedures. "Let's view see it from the public's interest," he said.

Both Daniel and Luhut said there has been skepticism among people on whether Indonesian courts will conduct the trial fairly. They also voiced concern over the affect televising the trial would have on public opinion.

"If the trial is aired in full, instead of only the sensational moments, the public can fairly judge how the trial is conducted," Daniel said.

Daniel added that television stations here may try to imitate a television channel in the U.S. which airs live congress debates.

However Andi, who teaches at Hasanuddin University in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, said if the defendant is fully exposed it would be tantamount to trial by the press.

"Both journalists and judges are bound by the presumption of innocence," he said. This has yet to be enforced in the new law on broadcasting.

"The draft of the law already contains a clause that the electronic media is also bound by the code of ethics of the press, including the presumption of innocence," Andi said.

Luhut said that the broadcast could go on as long as the defendant does not object. "Legally, Oki has the right to object, and he can ask the court to stop live broadcasts," he said.

According to Andi, the principle of presumption of innocence is also contained in the Law on the Judiciary, he added, which means judges must guard against the full exposure of the defendant.

So far, he said, the electronic media has been too free in nonpolitical issues.

"Many nonlegal aspects like mass outrage of a murder suspect influences coverage, but we still have to protect the defendant's rights," he said.

Meanwhile, Bahtiar, the producer of the live broadcast, said that his office had permission from the court to be there. He said presumption of innocence must be respected. "We don't want to corner anyone by broadcasting whole sessions," he said, adding that the long and boring trials of O.J. Simpson inspired him to broadcast the trial live.

"We want something new for our viewers. We want to be a pioneer, as we see that many important and valuable events are missed by viewers, who deserve true information," he said.

"If the other TV stations broadcast the ongoing Air Show live, we want to provide something different to our viewers, like a trial similar to the O.J. Simpson trial in the States," an ANteve crew member, who asked for anonymity, said.

According to him, all the crew have been assigned to do their work carefully in order to avoid trial by the press.

Meanwhile, National Police Spokesman Brig. Gen. Nurfaizi said that live broadcasting of court sessions which are opened to the public is purely the decision of the chairman of the court.

"If the chairman of the court permits the television stations to do live broadcasts from the courtroom, what's the problem?" said the one-star general.

Briliyanto, an official of the ANteve Corporate Communications Department said that his company would apologize if the broadcasts trigger protests. "But, we don't want to humiliate anyone," he said. (anr/sur/bsr)