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.