Supreme court urged to use of Press Law
Supreme court urged to use of Press Law
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Amid increasing attacks on the press roughly coinciding with the
moment President Megawati Soekarnoputri was handed power, the
Press Council is now urging the Supreme Court to ask all judges
to abide by Law No. 40/1999 on the press instead of using the
oft-oppressive Criminal Code.
Press Council Chairman Ichlasul Amal said on Thursday that his
group wanted the Supreme Court to heed their appeal, or the press
law would be a useless piece of paper and hard-won freedoms would
continue to diminish to a dangerous point. Press freedom, he
stressed, was everybody's responsibility.
Ichlasul suggested that the Supreme Court issue a circular to
inform judges of the law and the need to use it.
"At present, most judges are either ignorant or just plain
unwilling to acknowledge the press law. Such a circular is needed
to remind them of their duty to recognize current laws.
"Courts are supposed to consider information as public
property. If some parties disagree with the information, there
can be out-of-court settlements, such as the right to respond or
mediation," he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
Such a circular, however, would not be legally binding.
Ichlasul and Press Council members RH Siregar, Leo Batubara
and Hinca Panjaitan held a meeting earlier in the day with Chief
Justice Bagir Manan and his deputies Toton Suprapto, Paulus
Effendy Lotulung and German Hoediarto.
The Supreme Court has promised to review the request,
according to Ichlasul, a former Gadjah Mada University president.
"It was a very good meeting, because they agreed that press
freedom had to be upheld," Ichlasul said.
He reminded the nation's top legal officials that a precedence
was set in 1984 when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Medan-
based newspaper Garuda in a libel case lodged by a private
company. The Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds
that the company refused to exercise its right to respond.
Last year, the council mediated a dispute between Lt. Gen.
Djadja Suparman and Jawa Pos daily. The Washington Post and TNI
chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto also agreed to resolve a dispute
out of court.
State officials and big businessmen, however, have ignored
legal precedents that have already been set, but have instead
opted to file lawsuits using the draconian, colonial-era Criminal
Code against the media for reports considered to be libelous.
The most discouraging occurrence -- for proponents of
democracy and press freedom -- took place just a few weeks ago
when the South Jakarta District Court ordered Koran Tempo daily
to pay US$1 million in damages to businessman Tomy Winata.
The courts also sentenced Rakyat Merdeka editors to prison for
insulting President Megawati Soekarnoputri with a racy headline
and House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung for a
caricature of him sans clothes.
The press council conducted a series of training seminars on
the press law last year for judges in several provinces, and is
currently doing research on the issue.