Tomy article informative: Expert
Tomy article informative: Expert
Urip Hudiono, Jakarta
An expert witness told the Central Jakarta District Court on
Tuesday that an article titled Is Tomy in Tenabang? run by Tempo
magazine fulfilled the people's right to information.
"The article in question reported facts and information
relating to a fire that razed at least 157 kiosks at the Tanah
Abang textile market and caused Rp 1.7 trillion (US$196.5
million) in material losses," Press Council member Sabam Leo
Batubara testified on Tuesday.
He was testifying in a defamation suit filed by well-connected
businessman Tomy Winata against Tempo chief editor Bambang
Harymurti and journalists Ahmad Taufik and T. Iskandar Ali.
The article, which was published in the weekly's March 3, 2003
edition, insinuated that Tomy had been involved in a fire that
broke out in Tanah Abang textile market on Feb. 19, 2003.
"Besides being significantly newsworthy, the article is also
of particular interest to the public because it contains
information that might explain the cause of the fire."
Batubara, who is also deputy chairman of the Indonesian News
paper Publishers Association, rejected claims that Tempo had
intended to sway public opinion or monopolize the truth through
the article.
The weekly, he added, had adhered to basic journalistic
principles in the article by covering both sides and collecting
information to support the article.
"An analysis of the article's title and content shows that
Tempo was only presenting information it obtained about the fire,
and that it had crosschecked everything," he said.
"Denials in the article from five sources, including that from
Pasar Jaya head Syahrial Tanjung and Tomy Winata himself, is also
evidence of that."
As Tempo had also provided the right to respond to the
article, Batubara said the weekly could not be prosecuted under
the criminal charges in Article 18 of Law No. 40/1999 on the
press. The article stipulates that any media company that vio
lates the basic journalistic principles and denies anyone the
right to respond could face a fine of up to Rp 500 million.
"The maximum fine mentioned in the article also shows that the
law was made to protect media companies from any attempts to
bankrupting them through civil lawsuits," Batubara added.
He also questioned the prosecuting of journalists under the
Criminal Code, as the Press Law clearly specifies that all media-
related cases must be handled by the Press Council and that any
article will be the responsibility of the media company's chief
editor.
"The Criminal Code must only be used against phony journalists
who illegally misuse the profession of journalism to extort money
from sources," Batubara said.
The weekly's chief editor Bambang and journalists Taufik and
Iskandar are standing trial on charges of violating Article 14(1)
of the 1946 Criminal Code. They are accused of deliberately
disseminating rumors and publishing a report that could provoke
public disorder. If convicted, they could be sentenced to a
maximum of 10 years in prison.