Press activists hail TNI-U.S. newspaper case resolution

Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Press organizations hailed on Thursday the out-of-court settlement reached between the Indonesian Military (TNI) and The Washington Post, saying it was the best way possible to resolve a dispute over media reports.

The organizations said the legal measures pursued by the TNI set a good precedence that would replace the rampant use of intimidation in the past.

"The settlement is better than the old way, where both foreign media and the journalists were banned when their stories were considered offensive," Press Council chairman Atmakusumah Astraatmadja told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

He was commenting on the leading U.S. daily's clarification of its own report on Nov. 3 that implicated senior TNI officers in an ambush attack in August, last year, on Freeport mine employees in Papua province. Two Americans and an Indonesian were killed in the incident, which is still being investigated.

The clarification appeared on an inside page of its Tuesday edition. In its statement, the daily said further investigation by the paper did not find substantial evidence to back up its previous report on the Papua attack.

The TNI had threatened to sue the daily for defamation.

Atmakusumah said the legal process should have not taken place, because every public figure, who was constantly close to the press, should understand that there was no absolute truth in news reporting and should therefore provide clarification to balance information.

"The legal measure has scared journalists and made them feel somehow obstructed to follow up news. The process can be considered as stopping the information flow when this is actually the time for everyone to nurture the flow," he said.

Alliance of Independent Journalists chairwoman Ati Nurbaiti also welcomed the agreement between TNI and the Post.

"The process is the best way possible as compared to the former ways of barring foreign journalists from entering the country, for example, in the case of reports considered to be offensive, inaccurate, or both. It is also better than the legal practice of suing the media to virtual bankruptcy."

She said the case should teach both the press and the public a lesson.

"Apart from the lesson to the press, we hope the public, including officials here, learn to file complaints in a proper manner instead of intimidating journalists," she said.