TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Press Council head of legal commission Yosep Adi Prasetyo has dismissed claims that the recent police report against Tempo magazine was a form of media criminalization.
“No. Th police just received the report. It’s too soon to conclude that it's an act of criminalization,” Yosep told a press conference at the Press Council building on Tuesday, March 3, 2015.
Yosep said the police had yet to launch any investigation into the case, and that the council's legal commission member Heru Cahyo had been appointed as an expert witness.
Yosep argued that the case could be an act of media criminalization if was brought to the court.
On January 22, 2015, Indonesian General Society Movement chairman Mohamad Fauzan Rachman reported Tempo magazine's January 19-25, 2015 issue titled “Bukan Sembarang Rekening Gendut" (Not Just a Fat Bank Account) to the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Dirctorate (Bareskrim) for featuring a story on Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan’s budget flow to a number of individuals.
According to Yosep, Tempo did not violate the law or the code of ethics in reporting its investigation.
“It’s an article about a suspicious budget flow that would be useful for public, not about someone’s divorce,” he said.
DEWI SUCI RAHAYU