Officials told to be mature in facing media criticism

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

State officials have apparently become so sensitive that they often bring media outfits to court for defamation if they are not pleased with certain news reports.

This condition has kept Rakyat Merdeka daily, known for its sensationalist headlines, busy facing defamation charges either by state prosecutors or lawyers representing state officials.

Earlier this year, editors and reporters of the daily were docked by industry and trade minister Rini Suwandi for defamation, while at the same time, its executive editor was reported to police by State Intelligence Body (BIN) chief Hendropriyono, also for defamation.

Earlier, Raykat Merdeka was also declared guilty in two defamation cases filed by President Megawati Soekarnoputri and House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Akbar Tandjung respectively.

Chief editor of 68H news radio network Santoso and press council member Hinca Panjaitan questioned moves by state officials to criminalize media criticism by bringing media outfits to court despite the presence of Law No. 49/1999 on the press, which provides out of court settlements for disputes involving the media.

"This has become a trend in Indonesia as well as in several countries in Eastern Europe," Santoso told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

During the 32 years of former president Soeharto's leadership, media outfits accused of defaming public officials had their business licenses revoked by the government without any court trial.

According to Santoso, officials in countries undergoing democratic transformation, such as Indonesia, have considered court trials their legitimate weapon to curb media freedom.

"State officials (in those countries) are used to living in repressive cultures where they found no firm criticism against their policies. They are yet to be able to live in a more open, democratic culture. They are supposed to be more mature (in dealing with public criticism)," Santoso said.

State officials, according to Santoso, must realize that the media criticizes their policies, not their personalities.

"It's nothing personal. They would not be criticized if they were nobody. The media have the right to criticize state officials as part of their social control role," Santoso said.

According to Hinca, court cases against the media were triggered by lack of understanding among government officials about the substance of the press law.

"It is actually questionable because the law was produced by both the government and the House of Representatives. If they do respect the law, they should respect the press law. If they do not obey the press law, who else will?,

"If, say, a state official managed to make a newspaper bankrupt over defamation, would this solve the problem? No. They could not stop the media people from reporting their ideas and issuing criticism (against government officials)," Hinca said.

Both Santoso and Hinca agreed that the media was not immune to lawsuits, but they advised state officials to exercise their right to answer or deny inaccurate news reporting.

The press council, Hinca said, is currently drafting a guide on available solutions to settle media disputes.

The press law stipulates that if one disagrees with a certain report in the media, he or she can exercise their rights by asking the media to publish their objections, or by asking the media to correct their reports, or the press council to mediate a dispute.