Media outlets being sued for cigarette ads

Media outlets being sued for cigarette ads

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Five foundations filed a lawsuit against two giant cigarette
producers, two private television stations, two print media and
three advertising companies in connection with what they allege
were illegal cigarette commercials.

The plaintiffs demanded the accused, comprising PT Djarum
Kudus Tbk, PT HM Sampoerna Tbk, television stations RCTI and
SCTV; print media Bisnis Indonesia, Gatra, PT Perada Swara
Production, PT Citra Lintas Indonesia and PT Metro Perdana
Indonesia, to pay Rp 500 billion (US$55.5 million) in
compensation to finance health promotion and to establish a
foundation to manage it.

The lawsuit was initiated by the Indonesian Consumers
Foundation (YLKI), the Indonesian Heart Foundation (YJI), the
Indonesian Women against Tobacco Foundation (WITT), the
Indonesian Cancer Foundation (YKI) and the Foundation for Coping
with Smoking Problems (YLM3).

One of the plaintiffs' lawyers, Sudaryatmo, who is also from
YLKI, told the South Jakarta District Court on Wednesday, that
the lawsuit was a result of a series of cigarette commercials
from June to December 2001.

The commercials, which were aired on RCTI and SCTV in the
morning and afternoon, violated Government Regulation No. 38/2000
stipulating that the electronic media is only allowed to run
cigarette advertisements between 9:30 p.m and 5 a.m., according
to the lawsuit.

The advertisements also displayed the cigarette boxes and the
cigarettes in violation of Government Regulation No. 81/1999 on
cigarette precautions for health, which states that the content
of a commercial must not display the cigarettes or models/actors
in the act of smoking.

The print versions of the advertisements, too, displayed the
cigarette packages. The lawsuit said that the publication of the
cigarette advertisements violated Paragraph 13 article C of the
Press Law No. 40/1999 on the restriction for publishing companies
to publish commercials displaying cigarette products or smoking.

"The accused are responsible for the increased cigarette
consumption nowadays that leads to health risks for the consumers
as well as passive smokers," lawyer Sudaryatmo said.

Presiding judge Tjaraka Imam Widadadi adjourned the hearing
for two weeks.

In 1987, lawyer R.O. Tambunan, on behalf of Indonesian youth,
filed a class-action suit against cigarette producer PT Bentoel,
for allegedly violating the law by using the words Remaja Jaya
(Successful Youth) as the brand name of its product.

However, the Central Jakarta District Court dismissed the Rp 1
trillion lawsuit, saying that Tambunan had no right to take
action as a representative of Indonesian youth.

Tambunan had said that the product, which contained nicotine,
could destroy young people and eventually lead to the fall of the
nation.

The suit was filed not only against PT Bentoel, but also the
city administration, the patent and copyright directorate of the
Ministry of Justice and Prambors radio.