Radio Australia - Updated
International press freedom groups have condemned an Indonesian court decision that found a magazine guilty of defamation for describing a convicted murderer as a "convicted murderer".
The publication was the inflight magazine of Indonesia's national airline Garuda and the person it defamed was the youngest son of the former Indonesian president Suharto Hutomo Mandala Putra, better known as Tommy Suharto. Mr Suharto served only four years of a 15-year prison term for hiring hitmen to murder a Supreme Court Judge in 2001. The judge had earlier found him guilty of corruption in a real estate deal.
In passing its judgement last week the court in South Jakarta said that having served his sentence, Tommy Suharto had fully recovered his rights as a citizen, including his right not to have his past mentioned. The magazine must now pay US$1.5 million to Tommy Suharto and must print a full page apology in each of its 3 next issues.
Presenter: Liam Cochrane
Speaker: Bambang Harimurti, group editor, Tempo media group, member of the independent Press Council Indonesia
The publication was the inflight magazine of Indonesia's national airline Garuda and the person it defamed was the youngest son of the former Indonesian president Suharto Hutomo Mandala Putra, better known as Tommy Suharto. Mr Suharto served only four years of a 15-year prison term for hiring hitmen to murder a Supreme Court Judge in 2001. The judge had earlier found him guilty of corruption in a real estate deal.
In passing its judgement last week the court in South Jakarta said that having served his sentence, Tommy Suharto had fully recovered his rights as a citizen, including his right not to have his past mentioned. The magazine must now pay US$1.5 million to Tommy Suharto and must print a full page apology in each of its 3 next issues.
Presenter: Liam Cochrane
Speaker: Bambang Harimurti, group editor, Tempo media group, member of the independent Press Council Indonesia
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HARIMURTI: I think it is really a wrong implementation of law, because how can you be sentenced for telling the truth.
COCHRANE: And also this was a fairly limited circulation magazine, wasn't it?
HARIMURTI: Yes, this is a magazine that is only circulated inside the Garuda plane, but having said that a person like me, I would like to have an information of who own a certain business so I can decide whether I want to get their services or not, definitely if this belong to Tommy Suharto who has been convicted of murdering supreme court judge. I don't want to have any business with this group.
COCHRANE: I want to put those comments in context. The magazine, the Garuda Air magazine was actually describing a resort hotel owned by Tommy Suharto and that was the context in which the description of him as a convicted murderer came up actually about his past or his case at all. It was a passing reference?
HARIMURTI: Yes, that's it yeah, that's correct.
COCHRANE: So to what extent do you think this judgement is a setback for freedom of speech in Indonesia?
HARIMURTI: Well, I think this is really a very bad verdict for the climate of freedom of speech in Indonesia, because as you know, in countries where truth is not a defence in libel, it will create this chill in freedom of expression. And this is of course not good for Indonesia, therefore in the Press Council we actually ask Garuda should file for an appeal and we are hoping that the higher court will give a different verdict on this, will throw this case out of court.
COCHRANE: And also this was a fairly limited circulation magazine, wasn't it?
HARIMURTI: Yes, this is a magazine that is only circulated inside the Garuda plane, but having said that a person like me, I would like to have an information of who own a certain business so I can decide whether I want to get their services or not, definitely if this belong to Tommy Suharto who has been convicted of murdering supreme court judge. I don't want to have any business with this group.
COCHRANE: I want to put those comments in context. The magazine, the Garuda Air magazine was actually describing a resort hotel owned by Tommy Suharto and that was the context in which the description of him as a convicted murderer came up actually about his past or his case at all. It was a passing reference?
HARIMURTI: Yes, that's it yeah, that's correct.
COCHRANE: So to what extent do you think this judgement is a setback for freedom of speech in Indonesia?
HARIMURTI: Well, I think this is really a very bad verdict for the climate of freedom of speech in Indonesia, because as you know, in countries where truth is not a defence in libel, it will create this chill in freedom of expression. And this is of course not good for Indonesia, therefore in the Press Council we actually ask Garuda should file for an appeal and we are hoping that the higher court will give a different verdict on this, will throw this case out of court.
COCHRANE: Is there a sense that a higher court might interrogate the issue on a perhaps a stricter legal basis than the lower court has?
HARIMURTI: Usually in most cases in Indonesia, in our experience especially in cases of press freedom, the Supreme Court has most of the time given a much better verdict for freedom of the press, except on one exception which is the case of the Playboy magazine.
COCHRANE: Is there any indication that an appeal will be filed at this stage?
HARIMURTI: Yes, I heard that they're going to appeal and clearly the independent Press Council of Indonesia will support that appeal.
COCHRANE: Just briefly, what do you think this says about the Indonesian justice system, the court system more generally?
HARIMURTI: Well, I think it's more because the court system in Indonesia is still prone to corruption and the lower the court is, the more prone they are to corruption, because many of these corrupt judges say it's okay, I'll just get the money, I'll give whatever decision they want for me by paying it, because they can get the justice higher in the court.
Source : www.radioaustralia.net.au
