Criminal Law and Press

8/6/2019 Criminal Law and Press

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Print Media:

Criminal Lawand

Press Law cases


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UU Pokok Pers/UU No. 40/1999*dan

KUHP(Kitab Undang-Undang Hukum Pidana))


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Revised Press Law after the fall of Suharto,

to ensure the speeding up of the democratization

process by emphasizing the need for the

establishment of a free and independent press.

The press is often called the fourth estate,

because of its role as a social control instrument

of a civil society to balance the powerof the three branches of a democratic

elected government i.e. respectively the

Legislative, Judicative and Executive branches.


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After the Declaration ofIndependence

the Government ofthe Republic ofIndonesia

decided to base its Criminal Law

on the Criminal Law ofthe Netherlands Colonial Government.

In the early nineties an effort was undertaken to revise and updatethe existing law, which to date is still an on-going process,

meaning a final draft has still to be submitted,

debated and ratified by the newly elected DPR (Parliament).


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ArswendoAtmowiloto/Monitor- 1991 - sentenced 5 years in prison.

Ini Dia Tokoh Yang Dikagumi Pembaca(October 1990).

The Supreme Court reduced the sentence to four and a half years.Abdul Wahid/Berita Buana - 1989 - sentenced 1 year in prison.

Banyak makanan yang dihasilkan ternyata mengandung lemak babi

(October 1998)

Chief EditorSinar Pagi- 1980 - 6 months in prison

Dilapor ke DPR: Bupati Tangerang lalap uang rakyat Rp28 juta

(Juli 1980)

H.B. Jassin/Sastra - 1968 - Langit Makin Mendung

Tengku Hafaz/ Nusantara - 1971 - sentenced 1 year in prison

Source : Kebebasan Pers di Indonesia. Dari masa ke masa.

DRKrisna Harahap SH, MH.


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Kompas vs Marimutu Sinivasan - US$1 million - settled out of court

Majalah Tempo vs Marimutu Sinivasan - US1million -Tempo loses,

appeal to High Court

Koran Tempo vs Yoga Santoso/Pemuda Panca Marga - Rp250

billion - the court overrules the case

Majalah Tempo vsAzni Thalib Ch. - n/a

Source :Jakarta Post, September 17, 2004


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Megawati vs Rakyat Merdeka - 6 months - appeals to High Court

Akbar Tandjung vs Rakyat Merdeka - 5 months - appeals to High

Court

PT Tempo Inti Utama vs Tomy Winata - Rp21 billion - appeals to HC

PT Tempo Inti Utama vs Tomy Winata - Rp200 billion - ordered to pay

Rp500 million danages - High Court overrules in favor of Tempo

PT Tempo Inti Utama vs Tomy Winata - US$14.6 million - Tempo wins

civil case

Koran Tempo vs Tomy Winata - Rp21 billion - Tempo wins

Majalah Tempo vs Tomy Winata BHM/chief editor sentenced one year

in prison, appeals to High Court. Two reporters not to be held liable.

Source : Jakarta Post, September 17, 2004


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Precarious trends are emerging that

could restrict press freedom and the free

flow ofinformation on the Internet at the

World Summit on Information Society

(WSIS) in Geneva set for December.When the International Tele-

communications Union (ITU) initiated

the WSIS last year, three main

objectives were high lighted.

First was to raise awareness amongleaders about the implications and new

challenges ofthe information society.

The second was the injustice ofthe

digital divide

Third was the development ofnew legal

(Excerpts from an article in The Jakarta Post, 20 September, 2003)

and policy frameworks appropriate tocyberspace

Discussions so far have concentrated

on ways and means to control Internet

content and subject the free flow of

information to national laws. From the

very beginning, only officials andtechnicians were engaged in writing

texts, while no media people took

part. Previous declarations on media

and democracy were written by

professionals in the media and relatedareas.

Ifthe current text is approved, the

issue ofpress freedom - a universal

value since 1946 - will be subjected to

national laws.

Bitter time for information society


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The main job ofthe Press Council is to maintain the freedom of

the press, so that the intervention ofboth the government and

capital owners is prevented, while at the same time serving the

interest ofthe public. The council has to make sure that pressfreedom does not harm the people. I was told after I was sworn in

that most most complaints lodged to the council, so far, came from

the community. They claimed they were harassed by the media but

their complaints were not reported in leading media publications.

Ichlasul Amal - The newly elected Chairman of the Press Council.(Quoted from an interview in The Jakarta Post , 19 September, 2003)


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The South Jakarta District Court sentenced the chief editor of the Rakyat Merdeka daily, KarimPaputungan, to five months in jail on Tuesday for printing a caricature that defamed Akbar

Tandjung, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the chairman of the Golkar Party.

The issue is not the sentence itself, but

using laws from the colonial era in a

time ofa free press, which is an insult

to the press and press freedom. Theverdict confirms the tendency ofmore

repressive press regulations. The press

community must be more solid and

work together with the Press Council to

advocate for the scrapping ofthecolonial era (defamation) clauses in the

Criminal Code.

They were created by the Dutch

colonial rulers to crush the

independence movement, and were

targeted at the natives. A press can indeed

be subjective and a caricature can indeed

be demeaning, but in an increasingly

mature political climate people should bemore mature. Caricatures should be

accepted as a part oflife among the elite.

We are in a transitional period, and we

came from a time ofrepressive

government. So this is a goldenopportunity to at least eliminate those

clauses (in their use against the press).

TODUNG MULYA LUBIS, noted lawyer.

(Quoted from a discourse in the Jakarta Post, September 11, 2003).


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akyat Merdeka daily newspaper

executive editor Supratman told

the South Jakarta District Court

on Wednesday that he was just

conveying the peoples response to the

government and was not deliberately

attempting to insult President Megawati

Soekarnoputri.Im just a messenger of the people,

which is one of my duties as a

journalist. What we delivered were

merely criticism of the governments

policies to increase the prices of fuel,

telephone calls and electricity, not the

presidents personality or post.

Supratmans team of lawyers, led by

Adnan Buyung Nasution, said the

headlines were statements quoted to

reporters from demonstrating students

and observers.

The prosecutors failed to see that the

defendant should not be incriminated

with insulting the PresidentThe

defendant was only doing his duty as a

journalist and the articles are in line

with the Law No. 40/1999 on press and

the Press Code of Ethics, Buyung

concluded.

for violatingA

rticle 134 of the CriminalCode on defamation of the president

and vice president which is punishable

by a maximum six years in jail.

ProsecutorArnoldAngkouw demanded

a one-year jail sentence for Supratman

(Excerpts from an article in the Jakarta Post, September 25, 2003)

R


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Alliance ofIndependent

Journalists (AJI) chairwomanAti Nurbaiti said in a release

that confiscation, which has

rarely been used on corruption

suspects, was anotherform of

restriction on press freedom.

It also called on police,prosecutors and judges to use

the 1999 Press Law instead of

merely the Criminal Code in

cases involving allegations of

press impropriety. All

journalists should be united incombating any form of

intimidation perpetrated by

either the state, thugs or

powerful busineespeople who

threaten press freedom, she

remarked.

Fikri highlighted suspicions

that there had been

orchestrated legal action,

which, he said, was proofof

a black market ofjustice in

this country.What puzzled me is how the

bailiffwas certain that the

house belonged to Goenawan

without producing any

documentation on the

property. Tomys lawyeradmitted he was not aware of

the confiscation, while the

court had not sent any prior,

written notice to eitherTempo

lawyers or the house

occupants, he said.

awyers representing

Tempo media groupalleged on Tuesday that

judges had abused their

authority in handling a libel

suit against the group,

following the confiscation of

some ofthe groups property.

Legal team leader Todung

Mulya Lubis said that they

will file an objection to the

confiscation with the East

Jakart District Court, whichhad issued the order as

requested by businessman

Tomy Winata, who has

alleged that the group libeled

him. Lawyers Maqdir Ismail,

Lelyana Santosa and Tempo

LSenior editor Fikri Jufri were

also present.

(Excerpts from an article in The Jakarta Post, October 1, 2003


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