Mediator sought for media disputes

Mediator sought for media disputes

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Dozens of members of journalist associations rallied on Monday
outside the Supreme Court here to demand that the court sanction
the Press Council as a mediation body for disputes involving the
media.

The associations, grouped under the Committee against
Criminalization of the Press, also demanded that the Supreme
Court order judges to use the Press Law instead of the Criminal
Code in any disputes over news coverage.

"We expect the Supreme Court to approve the Press Council as a
mediation center for disputes over news reports. We also expect
them to issue regulations ordering lower courts to appoint the
Press Council as a mediator when they hear such cases," committee
spokesman Misbahuddin Gasma said.

He said such regulations were mandatory to give substance to
the Press Council as a mediation body.

Another activist, Ni'am Yusron, said the court's verdicts that
convicted journalists in recent libel cases had made journalists
across the country apprehensive, particularly those in the
regions.

Recently, Tempo magazine chief editor Bambang Harymurti was
given a one-year prison sentence after the court found the weekly
guilty of defaming businessman Tomy Winata.

The protesters later met the Supreme Court's deputy clerk
Satri Rusyad to convey their demand because most senior Supreme
Court officials, including Chief Justice Bagir Manan, were
attending a meeting in Semarang.

Bagir has said he hailed the Press Council's intention to
mediate disputes involving the media. However, he said such a
regulation was not mandatory because the decision to seek the
Press Council's help would depend on the plaintiff.

He said judges could only urge the disputing parties to seek
mediation to help them solve the problems. However, Bagir
promised to discuss it during the judges working meeting.

Press Council member Hinca Panjaitan said the council offered
to serve as a mediation center because it would take the Supreme
Court more time to draft and enforce regulations ordering lower
courts not to criminalize the press.

The offer came as a response to the growing number of libel
suits against the press, in which the courts usually use the
Criminal Code to settle the cases, he said.

"The Press Law actually says that the Press Council shall
mediate disputes involving the media. But, we need legal
recognition," he told The Jakarta Post.

Mediation has been a more effective and efficient means to
settle disputes involving the media than legal proceedings, said
Hinca.

The Press Council mediated a dispute between Jawa Pos daily
and former chief of the Indonesian Military Staff and Command
College Lt. Gen. Djadja Suparman last year. The two agreed to
make peace after Jawa Pos apologized for its unverified report.