Police question 'Tempo' chief editor
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.