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Police target 'Tempo' for Budi story
In what appears to be a threat to future press freedom, the National Police are following up on a report against Tempo magazine for publishing a story on the suspicious bank accounts of a politically wired police general
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In what appears to be a threat to future press freedom, the National Police are following up on a report against Tempo magazine for publishing a story on the suspicious bank accounts of a politically wired police general.
The police, however, claimed they were currently working with the Press Council to decide if they would proceed with a probe into Tempo for its recent report on the wealth holdings of former police-chief candidate Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan.
Acting National Police chief Comr. Gen. Badrodin Haiti said that police had sought counsel from the Press Council to determine whether Tempo had violated the council's code of ethics or had violated criminal laws by publishing the article.
'We have asked the Press Council to analyze the situation first, but coordination continues between the council and our detective division,' he said.
On Jan. 22, the Indonesian General Society Movement (GMBI) filed a report against Tempo over an article on Budi's suspiciously large bank accounts in the weekly's Jan. 19-25 edition.
The GMBI alleged that by revealing the flow of funds, the magazine had divulged state secrets and violated both the 1998 Banking Law and the 2010 Money Laundering Law.
Joined by Budi's lawyer Razman Nasution, the GMBI also filed police reports against suspended Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) chairman Yunus Husein and suspended Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) leaders Abraham Samad and Bambang Widjojanto for allegedly divulging state secrets by exposing the contents of Budi's bank accounts.
Abraham and Bambang have also been named suspects by police in a number of petty criminal cases.
The GMBI criticized Bambang, Abraham and Yunus' decision to go public with the information that Budi was 'red flagged' by both the PPATK and the KPK just days after President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo nominated Budi for National Police chief, triggering a month-long standoff between the KPK and the police.
Although the police have requested the Press Council's assistance in the case, Badrodin hinted that the case could be left open even if insufficient evidence was found.
'We have had experiences where several cases are kept pending because of insufficient evidence.'
Separately, Press Council member Yosep Adi Prasetyo said the police could not slap criminal charges on Tempo because publication of the investigative piece was in public interest. 'There is an exemption in investigations. Even the media can violate some journalistic ethics as long as it's in the public's best interest,' he announced after a meeting with several investigators from the Jakarta Police.
Yosep said individuals vulnerable to charges included sources used in the article and that if the weekly were made to divulge identities, public trust in the organization was likely to erode.
Yosep, who is head of the council's legal division, advised that the case be handed over to the Press Council so that it could hold an ethics hearing as stipulated in the Press Law.
Meanwhile, Tempo's chief editor, Arif Zulkifli, insisted that the Press Law protected the magazine's right to publish the article in question.
'Article 40 of the Press Law clearly states that the media is given the right to find information that is beneficial to public interest,' he said.
Arif said he was surprised to hear that a police report had been filed, as he was never contacted by police.
Arif added that the magazine was prepared to defend its stance if the police decided to press charges, but that he would prefer to have the allegations mediated by the Press Council.
'This is not a criminal case. The problem must be resolved through the Press Council,' he said.
