RMOL.id News About Hasto Kristiyanto Deemed To Have Violated The Presumption Of Innocence

The temporary decision of the Press Council for RMOL.id's news about the Secretary General of PDIP Hasto Kristiyanto reported by Repdem (Photo: Special)

JAKARTA - The Press Council considers that the RMOL.id News related to the Secretary General of the PDI-P Hasto Kristiyanto violated the presumption of innocence and did not go through a good process of processing journalistic products.

The news aired on Friday, January 10 at 03.56 WIB with the title 'Saiful Bahri Admits Bribes for KPU Commissioner Comes from Hasto'.

Although considered a violation, the Press Council is waiting for an explanation from the media portal.

"Meanwhile, it is clear that there is a violation of the presumption of innocence. There is Saiful's statement which he admits was made because he was forced, and the truth of the statement has not been tested," said Press Council expert Heru Cahyo quoted from a written statement, Friday, January 24.

From this decision, later the Press Council will send a decision letter after clarification from RMOL.id.

"Currently, it is still a temporary decision, because we want to clarify it with the defendant. Later the decision will be delivered by letter, binding, and the Repdem (the complaining party) can check whether the decision was carried out or not," said Deputy Chairman of the Press Council Hendry Bangun.

This case was reported by the PDIP organization wing, Volunteers for Democracy (Repdem). This report was filed because he considered the news to be inaccurate and was detrimental to the party bearing the bull symbol.

"We ask for an apology to be submitted for seven days on the front page of RMOL.id, and three days in other media, newspapers and electronics," said Head of Legal Affairs DPN Repdem, Fajri Stafi'i.

Apart from asking the online news portal to apologize, DPN Repdem also asked the Press Council to make recommendations to Police investigators to follow up on criminal offenses under Article 5 in conjunction with Article 18 of Law Number 14 of 1999 concerning the Press. "Our demand is so that similar cases do not happen again in the future," he said.

Secretary General of DPN Repdem Wanto Sugito said his party respects press freedom. However, this freedom must comply with the Press Law and the journalistic code of ethics. "The press is a pillar of democracy, so it must be guarded so that it is not offside," said Wanto.

The move by the Repdem to complain to the Press Council, said Wanto, was a form of obedience to the law and at the initiative of the members of the Repdem because the press had to provide accurate information.

"The press must also convey accurate information to the public so as not to cause a commotion," he concluded.