Persecution, not prosecution

The spring of hope, and the winter of despair. These are the mixed emotions that enunciate the prevailing paradox of our present society. On the eve of the high mark of our young democracy, the Central Jakarta District Court yesterday sentenced Tempo chief editor Bambang Harymurti to one year in jail for libel against well-connected businessman Tomy Winata. The judge ruled that based on the Criminal Code, the magazine was guilty of defamation and inciting unrest through its article Is Tomy in Tenabang?

If there is any silver lining to this event, it is that Bambang was not immediately incarcerated and two other Tempo journalists in the case -- Ahmad Taufik and Teuku Iskandar Ali -- were relieved of blame, as in the court's view, responsibility for the article was solely the chief editor's.

The verdict is a blow to press freedom, a grim prelude for freedom of expression, and derisive toward the court's already battered reputation.

We have nothing but contempt for the verdict. The case was so blatantly one of reasonable doubt and contradiction that the court should never have heard it in the first place. Witnesses and lawyers for the defense have raised too many questions over the validity of the case -- so many points of contention that the guilty verdict leaves us stunned.

We can only conclude that it was a case of persecution -- not prosecution -- against Tempo.

The hope is that this latest tragedy is not an omen of things to come, rather an anomaly in our basic right of freedom of expression. While we trust the higher courts will be more sober in deliberating the eventual appeal, the success in criminally prostrating one the biggest and most reputable news organizations in the country speaks volumes on the dangers lurking for anyone who is engaged in the written word.

What is at stake here is not simply the pride of a journalist but the maturity of our democracy. This system -- "democracy" -- will only bloom if the general electorate has access to information. Elections, one of the fundamental components of democracy, are about making an informed choice. But, that will only happen if people are free to debate, to address the public, to express their views -- both verbally and in writing.

The chilling effect will be felt by all news organizations performing their public duty as the Fourth Estate, all journalists exposing injustice and all opinion writers with a point of view.

The press is not above the law. Freedom of expression does not preclude legal prosecution. But, given the uniqueness of journalism as a profession, it is beyond comprehension that judges chose to allow the case to be tried using the Criminal Law. Appropriately, the 1999 Press Law would have been the most suitable basis for such a case. Even Chief Justice Bagir Manan has urged his fellow judges to apply the Press Law in such proceedings.

No human being is infallible, and neither are journalists or news organizations. Their profession is made all the more precarious as what they seek to print is often covert, or sought under strict deadline. Despite these pressures, journalists are bound by a code of ethics that requires them to publish the best obtainable version of the truth. In this day and age, it is as important to write the truth about facts as it is to report the facts truthfully.

We believe that while some may contend the facts of Tempo's report Is Tomy in Tenabang?, the weekly heeded journalistic principles in writing the truth about the best obtainable facts at hand.

Journalism does not have the luxury of extended intellectual musings or the prolonged intensity of academic research. It can never tell the whole story in a single edition. It is a process of layered fact-gathering that becomes prone to libel. But, the great news stories of our time -- Watergate, the Abu Ghraib prison scandal -- have shown that practical truth is protean and develops piece by piece, like a great jigsaw puzzle.

For these reasons, it is necessary that the Press Law be at the heart of legal proceedings on issues concerning the press. The criminalization of the press stems from a fascist mentality, which only serves to stifle thought and perpetuate an autocracy.