Petitioner Moch. Ojat Sudrajat conveying revisions to the judicial review petition of the Press Law, Monday (2/27/2023). Photo by MKRI/Panji.

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Monday, February 27, 2023 | 14:47 WIB

JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) held another judicial review hearing of Article 15 paragraph (2) letter d of Law No. 40 of 1999 on the Press on Monday, February 27, 2023 in the panel courtroom. The hearing had been scheduled to examine revisions to petition No. 13/PUU-XXI/2023 filed by Moch. Ojat Sudrajat.

Article 15 paragraph (2) letter f of the Press Law reads, “The Press Council has the following functions: d. give consideration and find solutions for any complaint lodged by public towards cases related to press reporting.”

At the Court before Constitutional Justices Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh (panel chair), Enny Nurbaningsih, and Manahan M. P. Sitompul, the Petitioner conveyed the revisions to the petition. “The Petitioner tried to follow what [the justices] recommended at the first hearing, starting from [the Petitioner’s] profile, following the format as referenced in [the Constitutional Court Regulation/PMK No. 2 of 2021], starting from the Petitioner’s legal standing, the background to the petition, and the petitum. Hopefully the revised petition can be accepted and [the proceedings] continue,” he said.

Also read: Petitioner Slandered by Press, Challenges Press Law

At the preliminary hearing on Monday, February 13, the Petitioner asserted his constitutional rights to recognition, guarantee, protection, fair legal certainty, and equality before the law on “cases related to press reporting” by journalists and/or press companies that are not listed with the Press Council; “cases related to press reporting” in the form of hoaxes, slander, insults, and/or libel that disparages the dignity and honor of individuals, legal entities, and public bodies; and/or news articles that invoke hate or enmity among individuals and/or certain groups based on ethnicity, religion, race, and group (SARA).

“The Petitioner experienced an issue due to news reporting that slandered the Petitioner’s name, hoaxes and false news. However, the resolution must go through the Press Council, which only (resolve) news reporting by (media) in the Press Council’s list, while those outside of the Press Council was outside of its jurisdiction,” he said.

In the petitum, the Petitioner requested that the Court declare Article 15 paragraph (2) letter f of the Press Law along the phrase “cases related to press reporting” unconstitutional and not legally binding if interpreted as “all press reporting that contains press offense and is done by a press company that is not listed in the Press Council.”

Writer        : Utami Argawati
Editor        : Nur R.
PR            : Muhammad Halim
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 2/28/2023 10:04 WIB

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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