Court battle looms over Washington Post coverage of Freeport
Title -- 3867 PAPUA: Court battle looms over Washington Post coverage of Freeport
Date -- 4 December 2002
Byline -- None
Origin -- Pacific Media Watch
Source -- Jakarta Post, via John M. Miller, fbp@igc.org, 4/12/2
Copyright -- JP
Status -- Unabridged
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THE WASHINGTON POST REFUSES TO APOLOGISE - COURT BATTLE LOOMS
* See PMW3856
The Jakarta Post
December 4, 2002
by Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A possible court showdown between The Washington Post and the Indonesian
military (TNI) chief loomed large on Tuesday after the U.S. daily refused to
apologize for a report implicating the TNI in the ambush on two vehicles
carrying PT Freeport Indonesia employees in August, which resulted in the
deaths of one Indonesian and two Americans.
Instead, lawyers representing the Post offered the TNI space in the paper to
present its side of the story.
"We reject TNI's demand to make a public apology because it is too excessive
and the authorities are trying to crack down on press freedom. But we have
proposed that the TNI reply to the story to give clarification and also to
open a dialog in an attempt to find the best solution over the dispute,"
lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said in a press conference here Tuesday.
Todung's remarks came toward the end of a two-week ultimatum set by the TNI
for the Post to make a public apology, or face a US$1 billion lawsuit, for a
report by its two journalists, Alan Sipress and Ellen Nakashima, suggesting
involvement by the military in the ambush near the gold and copper mine run
by PT Freeport Indonesia in Timika, Papua, on Aug. 31.
Citing "highly reliable" sources and other information, the newspaper
reported in its Nov. 3 edition that prior to the ambush, several officers,
including TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, allegedly discussed an
operation against Freeport with the ultimate aim of discrediting the
separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM).
Two American teachers and one Indonesian teacher were killed in the attack,
while a dozen others were injured, including a six-year-old girl.
Calling the report libelous, attorney Trimoelja D. Soerjadi, representing the
TNI, said that his client demanded that the apology appear in five foreign
newspapers, including the Post, and five newspapers in Indonesia as well as
on the Post's website, which had originally published the report.
"We believe that an out of court settlement will be more elegant (for both
parties). But if TNI insists upon suing, we are ready for them," Todung told
the press conference at his office.
Todung also asserted that "my client had no intention to discredit the
TNI..."
A military source told The Jakarta Post earlier that the TNI was eager to
bring the case to court in order "to disclose the grand strategy behind the
Post's mission when it wrote the story".
"Various international interests want Papua to become independent, including
that U.S.-based group, the Council of Foreign Relations (CFR), in which U.S.
Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. (ret) Dennis C. Blair serves as chairman of the
council's Indonesian Commission," the source said.
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