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

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.