Indonesia
The IBAHRI, in collaboration with a variety of commercial, journalistic, legal and non-government partners, submitted an amicus brief regarding the application for judicial review in the case of Suharto v Time Magazine (TIME) in Indonesia. The IBAHRI were pleased to learn that Time Magazine won the appeal on 16 April 2009, against the 93 million dollars in libel damages awarded to Suharto.
Summary of events
In May 1999, TIME published an article alleging that former Indonesian President Suharto had accumulated and hidden approximately $15 billion. In response, Suharto sued the magazine for defamation. Only four items in the entire article were challenged: (1) a rhetorical headline – “Suharto Inc.” – which was alleged to be false because none of General Suharto’s companies is literally named “Suharto Inc.”; (2) an illustration showing General Suharto against a background of giant banknotes, holding miniaturized photos of a mansion, a gilded plate and sacks of money, which was alleged to be false because the house belongs to one of his children, not to General Suharto himself; (3) a quote to the effect that General Suharto’s companies probably paid only a small fraction of their actual tax obligations, which was attributed to a member of Indonesian Corruption Watch; and (4) an allegation that ‘$9 billion of Suharto money’ was transferred from a Swiss bank to an Austrian bank, which was accompanied by specific denials issued by General Suharto and his lawyers.
A panel of three judges of the Central Jakarta Court of First Instance considered the evidence at length and ruled on June 6, 2000, that the article was fair and balanced and that TIME had engaged in responsible journalism on a matter “in the public interest.” On appeal, the Jakarta High Court affirmed the dismissal of the suit, confirming significant protection for a free press and demonstrating that Indonesia would not raise political leaders above the law, no matter how important they have been.
In August 2007, these lower decisions were reversed by a three-judge panel of the Supreme Court, which awarded one trillion rupiahs in damages (then approximately $106 million dollars). There were concerns about the impartiality of this panel, as all three judges who decided the appeal had been appointed by the plaintiff.
TIME has now applied for judicial review to the Supreme Court of Indonesia. With a variety of commercial, journalistic, legal and non-government partners, the IBAHRI has collaborated to develop an amicus brief for consideration by the court. This has now been filed.
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For further information about our work on Indonesia contact hri@int-bar.org