Nature Alert: Constitutional Court overturns a review on defamation article

Tuesday, 5 May 2009

Constitutional Court overturns a review on defamation article

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Tue, 05/05/2009

The Constitutional Court overturned a request to review a defamation article in the Electronic Information and Transaction Law on Tuesday, citing that the article is not against the Constitution.

The panel of judges, presided over by Judge Moh Mahfudz MD, said that articles 27 and 45 of the 2008 Law on Electronic Information and Transaction did not contradict democracy and human rights and the plaintiffs’ arguments were, therefore, groundless.

The judges said the freedom of the press was not unlimited. “In other words, the government is allowed to limit or regulate so that the freedom of press does not violate human rights,” the panel said during the hearing.

Journalist Iwan Piliang and the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), together with the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) and the Press Legal Aid Institute (LBH Pers), had filed a judicial review of article 27 and 45 of Law No. 11/2008 on Electronic Information and Transaction.

In one of their arguments, the plaintiffs criticized the articles as affecting free speech and a free press in Indonesia.

The law says that a person distributing, transmitting or making available access to electronic information or documents that contain insults or defamation may face six year’s imprisonment or have to pay Rp 1 billion (US$95,000) in fines.

Iwan said he was disappointed with the court’s ruling. “The Indonesian media are also to blame [for the loss] for not paying more attention to the case,” he said. (adh)

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/05/05/constitutional-court-overturns-a-review-defamation-article.html

PERSONAL NOTE: This means it is harder than ever for journalists to write critical reports. Judges have a history of being paid off by the corrupters, which means a fair trial for any journalist is highly unlikely.

Hall of Shame for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Palm Oil Industry.

Nothing can prepare one for the sight of the systematic extermination of orangutans by the government of Indonesia.

Look at the photos and news articles on these pages in the context of a statement the President made to the media on 10th December 2007.

“In the last 35 years about 50,000 orangutans are estimated to have been lost as their habitats shrank. If this continues, this majestic creature will likely face extinction by 2050,” President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at the launch of an orangutan conservation plan at the climate talks in Bali.

“The fate of the orangutan is a subject that goes to the heart of sustainable forests … To save the orangutan we have to save the forest.”

Statements like these are most welcome, but unless backed up by action, such words fall on deaf ears within the Ministry of Forestry....who are busy granting licences to cut down the very forests the President says they should protect!

When you think you are to busy to help, please could you reflect for a moment on .........

The following extract refers to environmental problems in general. I just hope you find it as thought provoking and relevant to orangutans as I have.

"This is such a shocking and unpalatable fact that most people deny it, or they just don't want to think about it. They believe as individuals, they can do little about it, so push it to the back of their minds. But I can't do that.

When something has to be done, we need to do it. It doesn't matter how big the challenge is or how hard the solution; if I know something is wrong, and I am in a position to help, I will do my best to make it right." Duncan Bannatyne, successful British businessman.