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Alert

"Tempo" magazine editor sentenced to jail for defamation; two other journalists acquitted

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ press release:

Tempo jailing another nail in the coffin for press freedom in Indonesia, says IFJ

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the global organisation representing over 500,000 journalists worldwide, has today slammed the decision by a Jakarta court to jail journalist Bambang Harymurti in a criminal defamation case in Indonesia.

Tempo editor Bambang Harymurti was found guilty in Jakarta today of defaming businessman Tomy Winata over an article published in Tempo magazine on 3-9 March 2003. The article aired allegations that Winata stood to benefit from a fire in a textile market.

Bambang has been released due to the execution of his sentence pending an appeal.

"The judgment has the potential for a chilling effect on press freedom by hampering journalism on a day-to-day basis," said James Nolan, IFJ international legal expert, who was in the court today when the decision was handed down.

In a separate decision handed down earlier in the day, Tempo journalists T. Iskandar Ali and Ahmad Taufik were acquitted of the defamation charges they were facing stemming from the same article. The Government of Indonesia was ordered to pay all costs in the case against the two journalists.

"The decision continues a deeply disturbing trend mirroring the darkest days of the Soeharto regime for media freedom in Indonesia," Warren said today.

"While of course we welcome the decision to acquit the two journalists, to find the editor guilty condemns the entire publication - and puts another nail in the coffin for press freedom in Indonesia," said Warren.

The IFJ and the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) have been leading a campaign to have the charges against all the journalists dropped, including organising an international day of protest against the cases on 16 August 2004, mobilising IFJ affiliates in at least 21 countries to protest.

The IFJ has sent journalists and lawyers from the region to Jakarta four times to observe the progress of the Tempo cases over the last month and today's decision was observed by an Australian lawyer, James Nolan, and Alan Kennedy, a journalist with the Sydney Morning Herald in Jakarta.

The IFJ has called on the Government of Indonesia to amend the law so that libel and defamation can only be tried as civil matters. The IFJ has also called for the removal of the crimes of insulting the president or vice president. Furthermore, the IFJ has called for the defamation and libel laws to be reviewed to ensure that there is an appropriate and rational relationship between the relevant harm and the amount of damages that can be awarded.

"This is a sad day for press freedom in Indonesia," said the IFJ President.

"No journalist should ever be jailed for defamation," said Warren.