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View all search resultsGovt regrets court ruling on IM2
Communications and Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring said he regretted a corruption court verdict that found Internet and multimedia service provider PT Indosat Mega Media (IM2) guilty ofmisusing Internet frequency licenses, saying the ruling could harm the positive business atmosphere in the sector
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C
ommunications and Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring said he regretted a corruption court verdict that found Internet and multimedia service provider PT Indosat Mega Media (IM2) guilty of
misusing Internet frequency licenses, saying the ruling could harm the positive business atmosphere in the sector.
'The verdict has set a bad precedent in the country's Internet service industry. We have examined the verdict and the results will be submitted to the President,' Tifatul said on Thursday.
Telecommunications giant PT Indosat, IM2's parent company, has announced its intention to file an appeal against the verdict.
'By saying that [IM2 was corrupt for misusing Internet frequency licenses], the court was implying that all the frequency license holders were corrupt as well, because the government issued the regulation that the companies used to obtain the licenses,' he said.
'The judicial bodies should have discussed this matter with us first before issuing the ruling,' the senior Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician said.
Tifatul said his ministry would try to engage in a dialogue with the judges following the ruling against IM2. 'We need to prevent the telecommunications industry from being killed, especially since
we issued the license the company obtained that was then considered false by the court,' he said, rejecting any suggestion that his comments could be considered disrespectful to the court.
Earlier this week, the Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced former IM2 president director Indar Atmanto to four years in prison over allegations that the firm had misused the 3G/HSDPA broadband network services owned by Indosat. IM2 was also ordered to pay Rp 1.358 trillion (US$130.56
million) to compensate PT Indosat for misusing the broadband network.
Separately, Supreme Court Chief Justice Hatta Ali criticized Tifatul's statement, saying that the minister had gone beyond acceptable limits by commenting on a court verdict.
'It was totally within the domain of the judges to issue the ruling.' He also shrugged off Tifatul's plan to talk to the judges about the verdict, saying that a court's ruling 'is non-negotiable'.(dic)
