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.