The newspaper retracted the caricature and apologized in both Bahasa Indonesia and English, emphasizing that the newspaper had no intention of mocking Islam.
Source/Credit: Jakarta Globe
By Dominic Diongson | December 16, 2014
Jakarta. Hints emerged on Monday the police may be softening their stance in the blasphemy investigation against The Jakarta Post’s chief editor, Meidyatama Suryodiningrat. Although the Indonesian Press Council announced unequivocally on Monday the case will be dropped, that declaration appeared premature, as a police spokesman only said further consideration of the case was pending.
“We have made an agreement with the police to close the investigation into the case. It’s over,” Press Council member Yosep Adi Prasetyo told the Jakarta Globe on Monday. “This case is a pure ethics violation, and the newspaper has done what must be done when it comes to an ethics violation,” Yosep said.
National Police spokesperson Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar, however, only dropped hints of a softening position. “We are planning to [review] the case,” Boy was quoted as saying by Tempo.co on Monday.
The police’s decision to name the Post’s editor a blasphemy suspect drew widespread criticism last week.
Jakarta Police named Meidyatama a suspect in the July 3 publication of a caricature that depicted the Shahada flag — which bears the inscription of an Islamic creed declaring belief in the oneness of God and acceptance of Muhammad as His messenger, most recently popularized as the insignia of Islamic State fighters — with the central oval replaced by a Jolly Roger-style skull and crossbones beneath the Arabic inscription “there is no God except Allah.”
The newspaper retracted the caricature and apologized in both Bahasa Indonesia and English, emphasizing that the newspaper had no intention of mocking Islam.
The statement was confirmed by the Post’s lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis, saying that the media only wanted to inform people about the danger of radical IS group.
“The Post had only wanted to participate in the government’s effort to fight against IS’s influence in our country. In the cartoon, it merely tried to portray the brutality of IS who did a violence on behalf of religion,” Todung said in a press conference at the law offices of Lubis Santosa & Maramis in South Jakarta on Monday.
“We’re respecting the police’s investigation process. By handling over the case to the Press Council, the police have chosen the most fair and rightful mechanism to solve this case.”
“We should avoid things like press criminalization, as it weakens the essence of our democracy,” Todung added.
Meidyatama is hardly the first member of Indonesia’s press to face potential criminal charges for practicing journalism.
In 2006, Rakyat Merdeka’s chief editor Teguh Santosa was charged with blasphemy for displaying a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad originally published in Denmark’s daily Jylland Posten a year earlier. He was tried and acquitted.
Earlier, editor Arswendo Atmowiloto was imprisoned for five years after publishing an influential figures poll on Oct. 15, 1990, in which Tabloid Monitor readers ranked Prophet Muhammad 11th for influence, 10 spots lower than former President Suharto, who came in first.
Independent Journalists Alliance chairman Suwarjono said agreement between the Press Council and police now provides protections through specific mechanisms for handling cases involving the press.
“Protections for Indonesian journalists back then were really poor … But criminal charges against press should never happen anymore,” Suwarjono said on Monday.
“In 2012, the Press Council and police agreed to write down a memorandum of understanding that every case involving press would be handed over to the council. In addition, the police should always coordinate with the Press Council before naming any journalists a suspect,” Suwarjono said.
“This case was a miscommunication between police and press council. It should never happen again,” he said.
“We also push the police to include Press Law within lex spesialis [special law] so that similar cases won’t happen again. Moreover, the police should improve the coordination with the press council,” Suwarjono said.
“Should the police continue with this case, it would set a bad precedent for handling the press. There would be more editors who could be charged under the criminal law,” Suwarjono said.
Read original post here: Jakarta Post Editor’s Blasphemy Case ‘Under Review’- Police
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