'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