Newspaper editor convicted for insult
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Press freedom took another hit when the South Jakarta District Court handed down on Monday a six-month suspended jail sentence and one year probation to the executive editor of Rakyat Merdeka daily for publishing articles that insulted President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
The sentence for the executive editor, Supratman, was less than the one-year jail term prosecutors were seeking.
"He was found guilty of violating Article 137 of the Criminal Code on the publication of articles that insult the president and vice president," presiding judge Zoeber Djajadi told the courtroom.
The 34-year-old editor was acquitted on the main charge of violating Article 134 of the Criminal Code for deliberately libeling the president and vice president, which carries a maximum sentence of six years in prison.
Supratman said that he would appeal the verdict.
The case revolves around the publication of four articles on the front page of Rakyat Merdeka daily in January and February.
Two of the articles ran under headlines that read Mulut Mega Bau Solar (Mega's mouth smells of diesel fuel), accompanied by a picture depicting a woman drinking diesel fuel, and Mega Lebih Kejam dari Sumanto (Mega is crueler than Sumanto), referring to a man from Purwokerto, Central Java, who was convicted of cannibalism.
The articles themselves were reports on street rallies organized by students in the capital against the President's policies. The headlines for the articles were taken from slogans chanted during the rallies.
The defendant's lawyer, Adnan Buyung Nasution, said the daily was criticizing the government and not Megawati personally.
The daily is popular for its tabloid-style journalism. The paper regularly publishes humorous and cynical caricatures and stories mocking politicians.
Earlier last month, the same court sentenced the daily chief editor Karim Paputungan to five months in jail, suspended for 10 months, for insulting House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung.