TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The revised draft bill of criminal code (RKUHP) stipulates articles that potentially threaten the freedom of the press in covering court trials. The Institute for Criminal Justice Reform program director, Erasmus Napitupulu, said that the threat is stated in Article 281.

Article 281 (c) notes that someone who illicitly records, publishes directly, or allows to publish any report that can affect judicial impartiality in a court will be convicted. The person can be sentenced to one-year imprisonment at maximum and a fine of Rp10 million.

“The article is unclear. It blocks a room for criticism against the court and judges,” said Erasmus to Tempo, Wednesday, August 28.

According to him, if the article initially aims to maintain the court’s value, the draft bill will be enough to stipulate articles that hinder the justice, rather than vague issues that threaten media independency in covering and reporting court trials.

The House of Representatives (DPR) Legal Commission head, Herman Hery, said that he will reexamine the articles and asserted that the law will not suppress the freedom of the media and democracy.

“A principle in a democratic country like Indonesia, press freedom is people’s freedom. So I think there should be no party restricting the freedom of the press, including the law,” he said.

BUDIARTI UTAMI PUTRI