TEMPO

Indonesia took a large step backwards yesterday.

After the fall of Suharto, the country developed an active, and aggressive, free press. It wasn't always pretty and it wasn't always honest. But it was undeniably free.

It seems some people were upset with that. A 'businessman,' allegedly slandered by the Tempo news magazine, filed a libel suit against its editor. The charges were of a criminal nature – as opposed to the civil charges that are used for libel charges in sane countries.

The 'businessman,' supported by unusually aggressive public prosecutors was successful. Yesterday, Tempo editor Bambang Harymurti was given a one-year sentence for libel.

While preserving press freedom is important everywhere, it may be of particular importance to Indonesia. As US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, an old Asia hand from his days as the US Ambassador to Jakarta, wrote in the NY times (registration required):

In the interest of disclosure, I should say that I have known Mr. Bambang for nearly 20 years. I knew him particularly well in the late 1980's, when I was American ambassador in Jakarta. I know him to be a journalist of enormous integrity, someone who takes seriously his responsibility not only to publish the truth but also not to publish falsehoods. He is also a Muslim who has courageously denounced terrorism and extremism on the editorial pages of his magazine.

But my concerns about this case extend far beyond my worry about the fate of a friend. I believe that the whole world has a stake in the success of democracy in Indonesia. If this country of almost 240 million, with more Muslims than any other in the world - indeed, with more than 15 percent of the world's Muslim population - can demonstrate its capacity to develop democratic institutions, even in the face of economic adversity, it will be a valuable example for the rest of the world. This is particularly true because Indonesia's strong tradition of religious tolerance in a nation that is almost 90 percent Muslim also makes it an important role model in the post-Sept. 11 world. It is no accident that the terrorist fanatics associated with Al Qaeda have been attacking Indonesia, even before the horrendous bombings in Bali in October 2002. And the attacks continue, with one just last week.

Indonesia has made remarkable progress in developing democratic institutions, despite the catastrophic economic conditions that the new government inherited with the financial collapse that accompanied the demise of the Suharto dictatorship. The country held a fair presidential election in 1999, parliamentary elections last April and is about to conduct a runoff on Monday to complete its second democratic presidential election. These are no small achievements.

While holding two fair presidential elections in a row is a hallmark of democratic progress, the real test of a democracy is how it protects the rights of its citizens. Our own Declaration of Independence doesn't speak of elections but rather about the rights of all human beings to certain "inalienable rights," in particular "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." And it is a fundamental principle of our Constitution that citizens cannot be deprived of those rights except by due process of law. Elections are properly viewed as a mechanism to hold government accountable, particularly in its most fundamental responsibility of protecting the rights of its individual citizens.

Accordingly, the rule of law is one of the essential pillars of a democratic society. There are few powers that a democratic state possesses that are as awesome as the power to prosecute its own citizens lawfully. And few things are more threatening to a true democracy than the abuse of that prosecutorial power.

One of the worst possible ways that power can be abused is to take away the freedom of the press and thereby remove one of the most important mechanisms for ensuring that government respects the rights of its citizens. As Mr. Bambang pointed out in his eloquent pleading before the court in August, the collapse of Indonesia's first brief experience with democracy in the 1950's began with "an attempt to undermine freedom of the domestic press through the criminalization of journalists."

As well as libel, Bambang was also charged for 'inciting public unrest' after thugs who were paid-off by supporters of the businessman became a few rupiah richer 'incensed' and ransacked the Tempo offices.

He hasn't been jailed yet, as the conviction is being appealed, but if his appeal fails it will be a black mark for both Indonesia and supporters of democracy in the Muslim world.

I recommend that supporters of Indonesian democracy pool their cash and offer an even larger bribe to the judges send donations to SEAPA or something.