Press Council asks to handle disputes

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Executive director of the Press Council Lukas Luwarso expressed disagreement on Friday over the government's plan to involve the National Police in handling any press outlet considered to be damaging public interests.

Lukas said any member of the public who are prejudiced by press reports should bring the case to the Press Council without involving the police.

"The council will act as a mediator to solve any conflict between the press and the public," Lukas told The Jakarta Post.

He made the remarks in response to the plan of State Minister for Communications and Information Syamsul Mu'arif to entrust the police with the power to curtail the freedom of the press, which he described as "excessive".

In a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission I on Thursday, Syamsul said his office was planning to disseminate information about at least 37 existing clauses in the press law (not plans for a bill to curtail what it considers excessive freedom of the press as earlier reported) that apply to the press.

After the dissemination of information about the clauses, he said that his ministry would ask the Press Council to issue warnings to the wayward press outlet before urging the police to take action if they do not respond.

The minister said he was forced to launch an information campaign in response to rising public concern over unsavory and misleading reports in the press.

According to Syamsul, the information dissemination is aimed at reducing the incidence of racy pictures and material, character assassination, misleading advertising, and bogus journalists (those who pose as journalists to extort money).

The press outlets that violate the existing law will be punished according to the Criminal Code, Syamsul said without specifically mentioning which articles of the code and the press law.

Article 5 of the Press Law No. 40/1999, for example, stipulates that the national press is obliged to report events and opinions while honoring religious norms and maintaining a sense of community decency and upholding the principle of presumption of innocence.

Article 310 of the Criminal Code states that those intentionally slandering others could be charged with nine-months imprisonment.

Syamsul said that the information campaign would be conducted in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights and the Press Council.

But Lukas said he was not aware of the plan, as he had just returned from abroad. "I don't think it would be wise to use the Criminal Code to settle any dispute involving the press," he added.

An indiscretion or mistake committed by the press should be examined first as to whether it was free of malice or an intentional action, he said.

If it was unintentional, Lukas said, it should only require correction, not punishment.

Lukas reiterated that the police could not take any actions against any press outlet if there was no complaint from the public.

With the ministerial plan to give the police power to handle disputes between the public and the press, there is speculation that the government will revive the function of the widely criticized information ministry of the oppressive Soeharto administration.