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)