Jakarta – Indonesia's Press Council described the Supreme Court's decision ordering Time magazine to pay former president Soeharto Rp 1 trillion (US$106 million) as an "evil omen" for local journalists covering corruption stories.
Council vice chairman Leo Batubara said the Supreme Court justices should have implemented the 1999 Press Law, as was done by other justices when they examined a libel case brought against Tempo magazine by businessman Tommy Winata in 2006, instead of using the Criminal Code.
Leo said the usage of the Criminal Code in cases relating to the media would paralyze journalists' creativity as they would become anxious when covering stories about corrupt officials.
"I hope that every media corporation throughout the country will unite to stand against the ruling by pressing the judges to use the Press Law when dealing with press-related cases... So they cannot effectively use the Criminal Code in settling legal disputes with the media," he told The Jakarta Post.
Article 18 of 1999 Press Law states that all media corporations that print articles making allegations against individuals or institutions must also print all responses from the accused party or face fines of up to Rp 500 million.
The panel of Supreme Court justices ruled on Aug. 30 that a report in Time magazine's Asia edition that made corruption allegations about Soeharto and was published and distributed internationally on May 24, 1999, was libelous and insulting to the plaintiff.
The justices have ordered Time's publisher and several of its journalists to pay compensation of Rp 1 trillion to the former president for defamation.
The panel of three justices was made up of presiding judge German Hoerdiarto, Muhammad Taufiq and Bahaudin Qaudry.
Alliance of Independent Journalists chairman Heru Hendratmoko said the ruling also jeopardized the existence of Indonesian media companies because it could be used to bankrupt them through the courts.
"The ruling, once again, has (resulted in the) deterioration of the country's image in struggling to reach a better level of democracy and freedom of expression," he said.
The Time article stated that the magazine had traced the accumulation by Soeharto's family of $15 billion during an investigation by a number of its correspondents in 11 countries over a period of four months.
The magazine said it found documents proving that the Soeharto family had received around $73 billion in assets, although the amount had allegedly been reduced over the years by mismanagement and the 1997 financial crisis.
Indonesian Time contributor Jason Tedjakusumah, who was among the list of defendants, said he would discuss further steps to be taken with the magazine's lawyer, Todung Mulya Lubis. Todung said he would request a judicial review to the Supreme Court over this case.
"We will do everything required to struggle for the freedom of expression through media publication. Now I am going to ask for a copy of the ruling in order to prepare to initiate a judicial review," he told reporters.
Soeharto's lawyer, Juan Felix Tampubolon, said he was satisfied with the Supreme Court's ruling, saying that Time magazine had failed to prove its evidence in the lower courts. He said Time magazine had learned an important lesson because they were covering stories based on opinion instead of fact.