'Tempo' wins case against PPM
Urip Hudiono and Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The Central Jakarta District Court dismissed on Wednesday a lawsuit filed by youth organization Pemuda Panca Marga (PPM) against Tempo magazine.
In his ruling, presiding judge Mulyani rejected two legal arguments from Tempo lawyers that the plaintiff was improperly represented by their lawyers in their civil lawsuit against the weekly and that the PPM's allegations against the defendants -- chief editor Bambang Harymurti, journalist Ahmad Taufik and publisher PT Tempo Inti Media -- were overstated.
The judges agreed with Tempo's argument that the allegations were vague and obscure.
"Their vagueness is illustrated by the fact that the plaintiff charged the defendant using both Articles 1365 and 1372 of the Civil Code, when the articles are for different matters," said Mulyani, who was accompanied by judges Agus Subroto and Binsar Siregar.
Article 1365 stipulates punitive damages for a felonious act, while Article 1372 deals with slander.
Since the charges were unclear, Mulyani said they were unacceptable and the judges had no need even to enquire about the case's legal substance.
The PPM accused Tempo of publishing a libelous statement in an article titled Terror on Kontras, in the weekly's June 2, 2003 edition. In the article, the weekly said that PPM members, who attacked the office of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) on May 27, 2003, were "of a baser dignity", and described them elsewhere as a "gang" and "children of former soldiers".
The PPM initially agreed to make peace with the weekly, but inexplicably filed a civil suit on Dec. 22, 2003.
The PPM had demanded the weekly pay a whopping Rp 250 billion (US$ 27.17 million) in damages and run a public apology in national media for three consecutive days. The group had also asked the court to revoke Tempo's publication license for at least two years.
Tempo lawyer Azas Tigor Nainggolan considered the verdict a sign that press freedom would prevail in the country.
PPM lawyer Abdul Salam, meanwhile, said his client would use the 14 days given by the court to consider whether they would appeal or not.
Separately, Bambang Harymurti reported Central Jakarta Mayor Hosea Petra Lumbun to the National Police for giving false testimony during the trial for a separate libel suit filed by well-connected businessman Tomy Winata against the weekly. The mayor said he was never interviewed by Tempo.
Bambang, who was accompanied by lawyer Darwin Aritonang, said Tempo reporters Indra Darmawan and Juli Hantoro had conducted the interview with the mayor. As evidence, Tempo presented a print- out from state telecommunications company PT Telkom, showing a telephone call made from the weekly's office to Hosea's cellular phone.
Bambang said Lumbun had violated Article 242(2) of the Criminal Code for perjury, which carries a maximum sentence of nine years in prison.
However, the officers who received the report asked Bambang to file the report with the Central Jakarta Police instead, since the location of the incident was within that precinct's jurisdiction.