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.