'Tempo' to go ahead with 'dummy' edition

JAKARTA (JP): Tempo journalists said yesterday that they will go ahead with the publication of their new "introductory" copy later this week despite government opposition.

Tempo's former chief editor Goenawan Mohamad, during a gathering on Wednesday night to mark the magazine's closure one year ago, said that the introductory copy, known in the magazine industry as a dummy, is legal. "If anybody says differently, just prove it with a legal argument," he challenged.

Support for the plan came from one of the lawyers who represented Tempo at the Jakarta State Administrative Court in their legal battle against the government's decision to close the magazine.

Trimoeljadi D. Soerjadi said court rulings in civil cases, unlike criminal cases, can be carried out immediately, even if the losing party is still appealing the decision.

"If Tempo can and has the ability to resume publication, then it should go ahead," Trimoeljadi said.

The government, however, has interpreted the case differently, he said.

The administrative court last month ruled that the revocation of Tempo's publishing license was illegal. Judge Benyamin Mangkoedilaga ordered Minister of Information Harmoko, the defendant, to return the license to Tempo.

Minister Harmoko on Tuesday warned that he would take action if Tempo journalists went ahead with the publication of the dummy. He said that the move contravened the regulation that requires every publication to carry government permits.

The minister called the plan "unethical" and said there was still no legal certainty given that the government, through the Attorney General, intends to file an appeal with the High State Administrative Court.

The publication of the dummy, originally planned for Wednesday, has been delayed until this weekend. It is one of a series of activities organized by Tempo journalists to mark the one year since they lost their publishing license.

Last night Tempo journalists launched two books: Mengapa Kami Menggugat (Why Are We Litigating), a collection of articles illustrating their court battle, and Independen (Independent), which addresses a bulletin by the same name issued by the Alliance of Independent Journalists.

On Wednesday, they presented the Suardi Tasrif Award in recognition of the people's contribution to the fight for press freedom. The recipients were three members of the alliance who are currently on trial for sowing hatred against the government by distributing the bulletin to the public.

Goenawan said the dummy edition is intended as a test run for Tempo journalists to prepare them to manage the magazine if they win the license back.

Bambang Harymurti, the senior journalist coordinating the dummy edition, said the publication does not need a government license because it is intended for a limited audience.

"We are not selling it to the public. Most will be sent to advertising agencies," he said.

Bambang also said that he had consulted with the magazine's lawyers about the legality of the dummy and he was satisfied that Tempo journalists were not breaking any laws.

Around 3,000 copies of the dummy will be released on Saturday just before the scheduled 'wayang kulit' shadow puppet show being held for the first anniversary of Tempo's closure.

The 78-page dummy edition will run a cover story on the newsprint shortage. (23/imn)