Soeharto approves Harmoko's appeal

Soeharto approves Harmoko's appeal

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Information Harmoko says he has the
full support of President Soeharto in his move to appeal against
a court ruling which found his decision to close down Tempo
weekly news magazine last year to be unlawful.

Harmoko said after meeting with Soeharto on Tuesday that the
head of state approved of his move and of his decision to appoint
Attorney General Singgih to represent him during the appeal
process.

The State Administrative Court early this month ordered the
minister to revoke his decree rescinding Tempo's publishing
permit and to give the magazine's proprietors and employees back
their license to operate.

There have been calls from a number of legal experts urging
Harmoko to simply accept the verdict and not to file for an
appeal. The concern is that the appeal process through the High
State Administrative Court and possibly the Supreme Court could
take years to resolve.

Harmoko said that during the meeting Soeharto reminded him
that the government should respect all of the decisions of the
court, whatever they may be, in the name of truth and justice.

The President was also quoted as saying that the government
should base all of its decisions on law.

Harmoko said he has given power of attorney to Attorney
General Singgih to handle the case at the appeal level. "I've
already signed the document."

It was the minister who suggested that the Tempo journalists
and others, who were not content with his decision to revoke the
publishing permit, to sue him through the State Administrative
Court rather than staging street protests.

Tempo lost its license because it repeatedly ignored
government warnings regarding its editorial content, according to
the Ministry of Information. Besides Tempo, two other weekly
magazines, DeTIK and Editor lost their licenses at the same time.
Only Tempo decided to take up the challenge in court. (emb)