'This country still using primitive laws'

'This country still using primitive laws'

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

The trial of Tempo journalists accused of defaming businessman
Tomy Winata started at the Central Jakarta District Court on
Monday, with the prosecution charging Bambang Harymurti, Ahmad
Taufik and Iskandar Ali of violating Article 14(1) of the 1946
Criminal Code.

Monday's trial was the latest in a total of eight legal cases
resulting from a story published by the weekly in March, which
implied that Tomy could have benefited from the devastating
February 2003 fire at the Tanah Abang Market in Central Jakarta.

The article in question apparently angered supporters of Tomy
Winata, who responded by besieging the Tempo office and allegedly
attacking several of its journalists on March 8 inside the
newsroom.

If found guilty of deliberately publishing a news report to
provoke unrest, the defendants could face up to 10 years in jail.

During separate hearings at the Central Jakarta District
Court, the prosecutors also charged the three with violating
Articles 310 and 311 of the Criminal Code on defamation, which
carries a maximum penalty of four years in prison if the
defendants cannot provide evidence to substantiate their report.

In 1999, articles 310 and 311 were added to the 1946 Criminal
Code.

Bambang Harymurti, who is the weekly's chief editor, asked the
court to exonerate reporter Ahmad Taufik from all charges, saying
"a reporter cannot be prosecuted because of a story the reporter
wrote as the decision to run the story or not is in the hands of
the editors".

Citing Law No. 40/1999 on the media, Bambang said that any
prosecution of media people should be based on whether or not a
journalist had followed the proper procedures in gathering the
materials for a story and in publishing it.

"How can anyone put the content of an article on trial ...
there is no such thing as an absolute truth ... People should not
be jailed for expressing their opinion. The failure to use the
media law in this case is not only an insult to the press, but
also shows that the country is still using primitive laws," he
said.

Presiding judge Andriani Nurdin adjourned the hearings to hear
the defense statements on Sept. 29.

Meanwhile, at the South Jakarta District Court, the trial of
the managing editor of Jakarta-based Rakyat Merdeka daily,
Supratman, was postponed because presiding judge Zoeber Djajadi
was still out of town.

The hearing would resume on Wednesday to hear the prosecutor's
sentence demand against the defendant.

Supratman is charged with insulting the president and vice
president by publishing four front page articles on the
government's policies, a violation of a Criminal Code article
that carries a maximum penalty of 16 months in jail.

Earlier this year, the daily ran articles with eye-catching
headlines -- mostly quotes by antigovernment demonstrators --
such as Mulut Mega bau solar (Mega's mouth smells of diesel
fuel), which was accompanied by a picture depicting a fat woman
drinking diesel fuel and Mega lebih kejam dari Sumanto (Mega is
crueler than Sumanto), referring to a notorious Javanese cannibal
now in jail in Central Java.

In a related development, Rakyat Merdeka's former chief
editor, Karim Paputungan, appealed his sentence of five months
probation also handed down the South Jakarta District Court.

The judges declared Karim guilty of criminal besmirchment of
Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tandjung after a caricature of him
with his shirt off was published after his guilty verdict for his
role in a Rp 40 billion (US$4.8 million) corruption case that
took place in 1999. Akbar remains free pending the Supreme
Court's hearing of his appeal.