Press Council to Mediate Complaint on Tempo's Tim Mawar Article

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Former commander of the "Tim Mawar" (rose team), Maj. Gen. Chairawan filed a complaint against Tempo magazine to the Indonesian Press Council today on June 11, 2019.

He arrived at the Press Council headquarters in Central Jakarta with his lawyer Herdiansyah upon Tempo’s latest report on the May 22 riot in Jakarta that incriminated the ‘rose team,’ which was a defunct elite military team blamed for past activist kidnappings.

“I felt slandered by the article,” said Chairawan at the Press Council headquarters on Tuesday, June 11. He asserted that the rose team had been disbanded since 1999.

His lawyer argued that Tempo magazine’s investigative report on the elite team was too prejudiced as he sees it as a direct accusation without attempting to clarify the matter to the person involved.

“According to Chairawan, the article had directly condemned [him],” said Herdiansyah who expressed gratitude toward the Press Council for immediately accepting their complaint.

Chairawan further demanded the council to legally act upon Tempo’s investigative report on the rose team that he deems had violated the journalism code of ethics. Through his lawyer, he also demanded Tempo publish a public apology.

Moreover, the Press Council promised to immediately scrutiny the article in question and planned to hold a meeting between the former Commander of Tim Mawar Chairawan with the editorial team of Tempo that worked on the story on June 18, 2019.

“We highly appreciate Pak Chairawan for trusting this case to be handled by the Press Council,” said Press Council Deputy Chief Hendry Ch Bangun.

Tempo magazine’s editor in chief Arif Zulkifli said he respects the legal process and member of the public who challenged the magazine’s reporting. He maintained that he would follow orders of the Press Council, as mediators, to solve the issue.

ANDITA RAHMA

Read: Mawar Team Former Commander Reporting Tempo to Press Council