Rights commission says it will summon 'Pembaruan' publisher

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)