Police question 'Tempo' chief editor
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The chief editor of Tempo weekly, Bambang Harymurti, was questioned on Thursday by Jakarta Police investigators as the sole suspect in a defamation case filed by businessman Tomy Winata.
The report was filed following an attack on the offices of Tempo and its journalists by about 200 of Tomy's supporters. The attack was in regard to the weekly news magazine's article on Tomy's alleged role in a fire in Tanah Abang market in mid- February.
Police have charged Bambang with violating Articles 310 and 311 of the Criminal Code, which carry punishment of up to nine months in jail and a maximum four years respectively.
Media law expert Hinca I.P. Pandjaitan of the Indonesia Media Law and Policy Center said the police have failed to see the case from the journalists' point of view as stated in Law No. 40/1999 on the press.
"Article 6 of the law states that the press is working in the public domain, either to criticize or to correct for the sake of public interest. In light of this, the defamation charge is nonsense," Pandjaitan told The Jakarta Post.
He also said that criminal charges could not be based only on the words used while ignoring the whole context of the story.
For example, he said Tempo used the word konon (they say) in the opening paragraph of the article and quotation marks were put around pemulung besar (a large-scale scavenger) to describe Tomy. "It cannot be construed that the whole article directly accuses Tomy," he added.
The lawyer for Tempo, Todung Mulya Lubis, said that the police should not view the case as a criminal act only.
"Ethics also provide a mechanism for objecting or responding to news considered to be libelous. If Tomy Winata feels he has been slandered, he can use that mechanism," Todung, who accompanied Bambang during his questioning, told the Post by phone.
Bambang said he would provide evidence if he stood trial.
The article was published in the March 9 edition of Tempo magazine. It included excerpts from an interview with Tomy, who is known for his close ties with the military and high-ranking officials.
Upset with the article, Tomy's lawyer sent a formal complaint, to which Tempo responded by starting legal procedures.
The attack, however, dashed peaceful efforts for a resolution, as Tomy aborted the lawyer-to-lawyer talks after the weekly refused to yield to the attackers' demands to print an apology and reveal their sources.
House of Representatives legislator Paulus Widianto, a media observer assigned to deliberate on the dissemination of public information bill, said the case was a good example of why the media has to be accurate in its reporting.
Separately, the police have completed their investigation of one of the alleged attackers, David, alias A Miauw, and will submit his case file to prosecutors.