Bambang Harymurti
Encyclopedia
Bambang Harymurti (ˈbambaŋ hariˈmʊrti; born 10 December 1956), commonly referred to by his initials BHM, is a journalist and editor-in-chief of Tempo
. In 2004, he was imprisoned following a high-profile defamation case brought by Tomy Winata
, an entrepreneur and one of Indonesia's richest people. He is currently serving as deputy chair of Indonesia's Press Council.
.
from Bandung Institute of Technology
in 1984 and an MPA from the John F. Kennedy School of Government
at Harvard University
. Although he hoped to apply for Indonesia's space program, he took a job with Tempo in 1982 to help support his family after his father's death. He has worked for Tempo, TIME
, and Media Indonesia
. His journalism has won awards including the 1997 "Excellence in Journalism" award from the Indonesian Observer Daily and the 2006 PWI Jawa Timur Pena Award. He served as the head of Tempos offices in Washington, D.C from 1991 to 1994.
While on assignment with Tempo to cover Indonesia's space program, Harymurti qualified as a potential astronaut.
On 9 June 1997, Harymurti was suspended from his job as executive editor of Media Indonesia for two weeks. Harymurti stated that the suspension was for "not following orders" and forgetting to inform the head editor of Media Indonesias Sunday Edition that the cover story should have been changed to an article about then-President Suharto's birthday. However, it was suspected that his suspension was due to Media Indonesias anti-Suharto stance during the 1997 elections
.
Harymurti became chief editor of Tempo in 1999, replacing co-founder Goenawan Mohamad
.
winner Ahmad Taufik
, published an article on 3 March 2003 implicating Winata in the burning of the Tanah Abang
textile market in Jakarta
, a fire from which Winata allegedly stood to profit. According to Taufik, he discovered following the fire that Winata had submitted plans for renovating the market only a few months before.
On 7 March, the magazine was threatened with libel charges by Winata's lawyers; the following day, a group of over 200 protesters appeared at the Tempo offices and allegedly threatened to burn the office down, gouge Taufik's eyes out, shouted racial insults, and assaulted Taufik when he went outside to speak with them. According to witnesses, when Harymurti went to the police station with reporter Karaniya Dharmasaputra to file a complaint, they were also beaten by protesters, this time within sight of police officers who did not intervene.
Winata later filed a lawsuit, naming Taufik, his editor Iskandar Ali, and Harymurti as defendants. The suit charged the three with libel, defamation, and refusing "to respect religious and moral norms". BBC News
described the case as being "widely criticised as an attack on Indonesia's press". Harymurti called the charges "the biggest and worst scandal in [Indonesia's] legal system." BBC News
described the case as being "widely criticised as an attack on Indonesia's press". Harymutri's trial was also protested by international press freedom organizations such as ARTICLE 19
, Freedom House
, Index on Censorship
, the World Press Freedom Committee
, the World Association of Newspapers
, Reporters Without Borders
, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
, and The Committee to Protect Journalists. Amnesty International
issued an appeal on behalf of the reporters, naming them potential prisoners of conscience. In a letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
, Human Rights Watch
also criticized Indonesia's "more restrictive environment" for journalists, which it said Harymurti had come to symbolize. US Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz
criticized the arrest in a New York Times editorial, stating that the trial had "implications far beyond the courtroom in Jakarta", describing it as a test for Indonesian democracy.
On 16 September 2004, Harymurti was found guilty of "defamation and false reporting" and sentenced to a year in prison, while Taufik and Ali were exonerated. The Central Jakarta Court's ruling that Tempo had to pay USD 55,000 in damages
was later overturned. Harymutri's sentence was also overturned unanimously by the Supreme Court of Indonesia
on 9 February 2005, National Press Day in Indonesia. A court spokesperson stated, "We want to ensure that journalists are protected", and affirmed the National Press Law was lex specialis
, above the criminal code (KUHP). Harymurti welcomed the decision as "not a personal victory but a victory for all Indonesian journalists".
Harymurti is currently serving as the deputy chair of Indonesia's Press Council.
Tempo magazine (Indonesia)
Tempo is an Indonesian weekly magazine that covers news and politics. It was founded by Goenawan Mohamad and Yusril Djalinus and the first edition was published in March 1971.-New Order era:...
. In 2004, he was imprisoned following a high-profile defamation case brought by Tomy Winata
Tomy Winata
Tomy Winata is an Indonesian businessman who works primarily in the fields of banking and real estate. He was born the son of a spare parts trader and dropped out of school in the seventh grade to sell home-made ice pops to support his family. According to The Washington Post, he then "rose from a...
, an entrepreneur and one of Indonesia's richest people. He is currently serving as deputy chair of Indonesia's Press Council.
Biography
Harymurti was born on 10 December 1956, to air force pilot Ahmad Sudarsono and Karlina Koesoemadinata. As a child, he dreamed of becoming an astronautAstronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
.
Early career
Harymurti holds received BS in electrical engineeringElectrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
from Bandung Institute of Technology
Bandung Institute of Technology
The Bandung Institute of Technology or Institute of Technology, Bandung is a state, coeducational research university located in Bandung, Indonesia. Established in 1920, ITB is the oldest technology-oriented university in Indonesia....
in 1984 and an MPA from the John F. Kennedy School of Government
John F. Kennedy School of Government
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University is a public policy and public administration school, and one of Harvard's graduate and professional schools...
at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. Although he hoped to apply for Indonesia's space program, he took a job with Tempo in 1982 to help support his family after his father's death. He has worked for Tempo, TIME
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, and Media Indonesia
Media Indonesia
Media Indonesia is an Indonesian daily newspaper published in Jakarta. Reports say Media Indonesia is the second largest newspaper in Indonesia after the Kompas daily, and the third is Jawa Pos....
. His journalism has won awards including the 1997 "Excellence in Journalism" award from the Indonesian Observer Daily and the 2006 PWI Jawa Timur Pena Award. He served as the head of Tempos offices in Washington, D.C from 1991 to 1994.
While on assignment with Tempo to cover Indonesia's space program, Harymurti qualified as a potential astronaut.
On 9 June 1997, Harymurti was suspended from his job as executive editor of Media Indonesia for two weeks. Harymurti stated that the suspension was for "not following orders" and forgetting to inform the head editor of Media Indonesias Sunday Edition that the cover story should have been changed to an article about then-President Suharto's birthday. However, it was suspected that his suspension was due to Media Indonesias anti-Suharto stance during the 1997 elections
Indonesian legislative election, 1997
Legislative elections were held in Indonesia on 29 May 1997. There were actually three elections in one as voters were electing members of two levels of regional government as well as the House of Representatives. This was to be the last election of President Suharto's New Order regime, which...
.
Harymurti became chief editor of Tempo in 1999, replacing co-founder Goenawan Mohamad
Goenawan Mohamad
Goenawan Mohamad is a renowned Indonesian poet and man of letters.Goenawan Mohamad was born in Batang, Central Java. His early writings include Potret Seorang Penyair Muda Sebagai Si Malin Kundang and Seks, Sastra, Kita ,'"Kesusastraan dan Kekuasaan' Goenawan Mohamad (born 29 July 1941) is a...
.
Winata trial
One of Harymutri's reporters, International Press Freedom AwardCPJ International Press Freedom Awards
The CPJ International Press Freedom Awards honour journalists around the world who show courage in defending press freedom in the face of attacks, threats or imprisonment. Created in 1991, the awards are administered by the Committee to Protect Journalists....
winner Ahmad Taufik
Ahmad Taufik
Ahmad Taufik is an Indonesian newspaper journalist known for his articles critical of the dictatorship of President Suharto.Taufik worked as a reporter at the magazine Tempo until its banning by Information Minister Harmoko of Suharto's New Order government in 1994...
, published an article on 3 March 2003 implicating Winata in the burning of the Tanah Abang
Tanah Abang
Tanah Abang is a subdistrict of Central Jakarta, Indonesia. The subdistrict hosts the biggest textile market in Southeast Asia, Tanah Abang Market...
textile market in Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
, a fire from which Winata allegedly stood to profit. According to Taufik, he discovered following the fire that Winata had submitted plans for renovating the market only a few months before.
On 7 March, the magazine was threatened with libel charges by Winata's lawyers; the following day, a group of over 200 protesters appeared at the Tempo offices and allegedly threatened to burn the office down, gouge Taufik's eyes out, shouted racial insults, and assaulted Taufik when he went outside to speak with them. According to witnesses, when Harymurti went to the police station with reporter Karaniya Dharmasaputra to file a complaint, they were also beaten by protesters, this time within sight of police officers who did not intervene.
Winata later filed a lawsuit, naming Taufik, his editor Iskandar Ali, and Harymurti as defendants. The suit charged the three with libel, defamation, and refusing "to respect religious and moral norms". BBC News
BBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
described the case as being "widely criticised as an attack on Indonesia's press". Harymurti called the charges "the biggest and worst scandal in [Indonesia's] legal system." BBC News
BBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
described the case as being "widely criticised as an attack on Indonesia's press". Harymutri's trial was also protested by international press freedom organizations such as ARTICLE 19
ARTICLE 19
ARTICLE 19 is a London-based human rights organisation with a specific mandate and focus on the defence and promotion of freedom of expression and freedom of information worldwide...
, Freedom House
Freedom House
Freedom House is an international non-governmental organization based in Washington, D.C. that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom and human rights...
, Index on Censorship
Index on Censorship
Index on Censorship is a campaigning publishing organisation for freedom of expression, which produces an award-winning quarterly magazine of the same name from London. The present chief executive of Index on Censorship, since 2008, is the author, broadcaster and commentator John Kampfner, former...
, the World Press Freedom Committee
World Press Freedom Committee
The World Press Freedom Committee is a coordination group of national and international news media organizations.The WPFC set out global press freedom principles in the 1981 Declaration of Talloires , followed in 1987 by the 10-point Charter for a Free Press...
, the World Association of Newspapers
World Association of Newspapers
The World Association of Newspapers is a non-profit, non-governmental organization made up of 76 national newspaper associations, 12 news agencies, 10 regional press organisations and individual newspaper executives in 100 countries...
, Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression is a Canadian non-governmental organization supported by Canadian journalists and advocates of freedom of expression. The purpose of the organization is to defend the rights of journalists and contribute to the development of press freedom throughout the...
, and The Committee to Protect Journalists. Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
issued an appeal on behalf of the reporters, naming them potential prisoners of conscience. In a letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono AC , is an Indonesian politician and retired Army general officer who has been President of Indonesia since 2004....
, Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
also criticized Indonesia's "more restrictive environment" for journalists, which it said Harymurti had come to symbolize. US Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Dundes Wolfowitz is a former United States Ambassador to Indonesia, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, President of the World Bank, and former dean of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University...
criticized the arrest in a New York Times editorial, stating that the trial had "implications far beyond the courtroom in Jakarta", describing it as a test for Indonesian democracy.
On 16 September 2004, Harymurti was found guilty of "defamation and false reporting" and sentenced to a year in prison, while Taufik and Ali were exonerated. The Central Jakarta Court's ruling that Tempo had to pay USD 55,000 in damages
Damages
In law, damages is an award, typically of money, to be paid to a person as compensation for loss or injury; grammatically, it is a singular noun, not plural.- Compensatory damages :...
was later overturned. Harymutri's sentence was also overturned unanimously by the Supreme Court of Indonesia
Supreme court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of many legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, instance court, judgment court, high court, or apex court...
on 9 February 2005, National Press Day in Indonesia. A court spokesperson stated, "We want to ensure that journalists are protected", and affirmed the National Press Law was lex specialis
Lex specialis
Lex specialis, in legal theory and practice, is a doctrine relating to the interpretation of laws, and can apply in both domestic and international law contexts. The doctrine states that a law governing a specific subject matter overrides a law which only governs general matters...
, above the criminal code (KUHP). Harymurti welcomed the decision as "not a personal victory but a victory for all Indonesian journalists".
Harymurti is currently serving as the deputy chair of Indonesia's Press Council.