Jakarta Post Chief Editor Meidyatama Suryodiningrat. Photo: Youtube
Hey, remember how last Thursday the chief editor of the Jakarta Post, Meidyatama Suryodiningrat, got named a suspect in a blasphemy case because his newspaper published an anti-ISIS cartoon? Many people worried that this was a terrible sign for the country’s freedom of speech protections.
Well crisis averted – it looks like the police are dropping the case.
Joseph Adi Prasetyo, a member of the Indonesian Press Council, said the police investigation into the case will not be going any further. The Press Council, he said, had already coordinated with Police Chief General Sutarman and other leaders of the National Police.
“We reached an agreement not to pursue the case. It is finished,” said Joseph today, according to Tempo.
According to him, the meetings between the Press Council and the police took place on Friday and Saturday. To follow up on those meetings, the Press Council has sent a letter to the chief of police this morning.
Joseph said the blasphemy charges against the Jakarta Post should have been reviewed by the Press Council since they deal with journalistic ethics. In addition, he said the Press Council and the police have had an agreement since 2011 that such cases should be dealt with by the Press Council first and only brought to the police if necessary
According to Joseph, the case against Meidyatama was pursued by the police because of an “expert” witness they consulted who said the matter could be settled ethically but still pursued criminally.
“Maybe they don’t understand journalism. If there was no malicious intent, then it was a violation of ethics and should not be treated as a criminal matter,” he said.
Perpetrators of press offenses, Joseph said, could be brought up on criminal charges if they kept repeating their mistakes or if their offensives had some kind of malicious intent behind them.
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