Rights commission says it will summon 'Pembaruan' publisher

JAKARTA (JP): An Indonesian Commission for Human Rights member said yesterday the commission would summon the publisher of the afternoon daily Suara Pembaruan, for not complying with legal rulings on its seven suspended journalists.

Commission member A.A. Baramuli said the publisher, PT Media Interaksi Utama, should have paid the journalists' salaries as the Jakarta State Administrative High Court had ordered.

"The publisher did not respect the law," Baramuli said.

Seven journalists were suspended November 1995 for ill- discipline. They then sued the publisher. They then took their case to Ministry of Manpower's arbitration board.

The board ordered the publisher to reinstate the journalists and backpay their salaries from Nov. 1995. The publisher then sued the arbitration board.

The Jakarta State Administrative High Court rejected the publisher's lawsuit last October, endorsing the arbitration body's decision.

Media Interaksi president director Soedarjo said he would pay all of the suspended journalists' salaries and other entitlements only if they left the paper.

"The journalists rejected our offers to meet their demands of salaries, compensation, severance pay and other benefits, but they demanded to rejoin the newspaper," Soedarjo said.

He said the paper's editorial staff considered it impossible to employ them again as journalists.

However, because they did not want to leave, the paper could not pay them, he said.

"So far they have insulted us and Suara Pembaruan's share holders" by taking us to court and other bodies, he said.

The journalists even wanted to overthrow the general manager and the chief editor, he said

"We want to appeal to the Supreme Court, and we will see what it decides," Soedarjo said.

The seven journalists are Petron Curie, Kooswadi, Isaac Sinjal, Constantinus De Gani, Djadjan Saputra, Charles Manurung and Nelson Simanjuntak. (07)