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Police hand over '€˜Post'€™ case to Press Council

The Jakarta Police have handed over a blasphemy case implicating The Jakarta Post editor-in-chief Meidyatama Suryodiningrat to the Press Council

Indra Budiari and Sita W. Dewi (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Thu, January 8, 2015

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Police hand over '€˜Post'€™ case to Press Council

T

he Jakarta Police have handed over a blasphemy case implicating The Jakarta Post editor-in-chief Meidyatama Suryodiningrat to the Press Council.

Jakarta Police chief detective Sr. Comr. Heru Pranoto said on Wednesday that the investigators had canceled a session to question Meidyatama previously scheduled for that day.

Furthermore, he said the police would wait for the council'€™s recommendation before proceeding with the case.

'€œThe questioning related to the [blasphemy] case has been canceled. It is now in the hands of the Press Council,'€ Heru told the Post.

The case started when the Jakarta Preachers Corps (KMJ) filed a report with the National Police in July, accusing the Post and its editor-in-chief of blasphemy for publishing an internationally syndicated cartoon in its July 3 edition, criticizing violence conducted by the Islamic State (IS) organization, otherwise known as ISIL or ISIS.

The newspaper retracted the cartoon, which contained symbolism that might have been viewed as offensive, and issued a public apology.

'€œThe Post regrets the error in judgement, which was in no way meant to malign or be disrespectful of any religion. Our intent was to criticize the use of symbols, specifically the ISIL flag, in acts of violence in general and in this case, against fellow Muslims,'€ the newspaper stated in its apology and retraction in its July 8 edition.

Heru said that the Jakarta Police would wait for the council to decide if the cartoon was categorized as an ethics violation or a criminal action.

However, he refused to comment when asked whether or not the Jakarta Police would drop the case if the council declared the cartoon was not a criminal matter.

'€œLet'€™s just wait for the council'€™s decision,'€ he said.

Press Council member Yosep Stanley Adi Prasetyo acknowledged that he had met with the three Jakarta police investigators who handled the case at the Press Council building in Central Jakarta.

'€œThe three investigators came to the Press Council office to hand over the case to the Press Council, as per the National Police chief'€™s letter, which said that this case was an ethics [violation] case, thus, it should be handled using the relevant mechanism,'€ he told the Post.

Yosep also hinted that the legal case would likely be terminated.

'€œDuring the meeting we also discussed the process [to issue] an SP3 [instruction to stop an investigation],'€ he said.

Yosep lauded the police'€™s move to return the case to the remit of the Press Council, saying it was in line with a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the Press Council and the National Police.

'€œI appreciate it and this is a positive move. We have agreed that disputes implicating the press corps should be returned to the Press Council,'€ he said.

Previously, the Press Council analyzed the situation surrounding the publication of the cartoon in July and deemed it insensitive but not a criminal matter.

'€œWe issued a recommendation and the Post fulfilled it. Case closed,'€ he said.

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