'Tempo' on trial

'Tempo' on trial

Bambang Harymurti, the chief editor of Tempo, will appear in
Jakarta court tomorrow (today), together with two of his staff,
to find out if they face jail terms for publishing an article
that upset a wealthy businessman renowned for his strong
political connections to the country's power brokers.

It's a case that threatens to deal a chilling blow to the
future of press freedom in a nation still emerging from the
censorship of the Soeharto years. It has already drawn widespread
domestic and international attention. Representatives from the
U.S. and other foreign embassies will be at tomorrow's (today's)
hearing. Even the two candidates in Monday's final round of
balloting in Indonesia's presidential election have belatedly
added their voices to the growing chorus of concern.

Now we don't know enough to vouch for the accuracy of every
detail in the articles in question, which revealed "rumors" about
the business dealings of prominent entrepreneur Tomy Winata. But
we do know that Indonesia's 1999 Press Law offers a perfectly
adequate route for those believe they've been the victim of
inaccurate reporting to seek redress - without the need to send
anyone to jail.

But that wasn't enough for the government of President
Megawati Soekarnoputri, which chose to take up the cudgels on the
well-connected businessman's behalf. Spurning a law that protects
press freedom, the government instead laid criminal charges
carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years, although prosecutors
have so far confined themselves to demanding a two-year term.

Incredibly, Mr. Bambang and his two colleagues have been
charged not only with criminal libel but also with "inciting
public unrest." That's because after the article appeared their
offices were attacked by Mr. Winata's supporters. Police failed
to protect Tempo, and a Jakarta court later acquitted one of the
ringleaders on charges of assault.

Ms. Megawati's three years in office have been marred by a
series of attacks on freedom of expression, including at least 15
other defamation cases, four of them involving criminal charges.
That included the prosecution of a tabloid newspaper for a series
of particularly strong headlines criticizing the president.

-- The Asian Wall Street Journal, Hong Kong