Jose Belo
In
2008, East Timor Minister of Justice Lucia Lobato accused Jose Belo, publisher
of investigative newspaper Tempo Semanal of defamation. At the time, many of
the press laws in East Timor were inherited from Indonesian military rule. In a
number of articles in Tempo Semanal, Belo accused Lobato of corruption and
using her power to get friends and family members into high-paying government
positions.
In
response, Lobato brought a defamation charge against Belo using an
Indonesian-era law that made defamation a criminal offense. Lobato was
criticized by many members of the East Timor press, as she and other members of
the East Timor government were in the process of drafting a new law that
downgraded defamation to a civil, rather than criminal offense. Under the old
law, Belo faced a possible prison sentence of seven years. Belo said “It’s very
sad for my country that they keep using foreign invader’s laws to prosecute me.
We should have our own laws.”
After
the East Timor Government pressed charges against Belo, several press freedom
groups criticized the East Timor Government for limiting press freedoms. Some
of these groups include East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN), Pacific
Media Watch (PMW), and the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism (ACIJ)
who sent a letter to East Timor’s President José Ramos-Horta urging him to drop
the charges against Belo.
Court decision
Ultimately,
outside support for Belo helped his case. In June 2009, Ramos-Horta passed a
law that removed defamation as a criminal offense. Soon after, charges against
Belo and the Tempo Semanal were dismissed.
Raimundos Oki
On November 10, 2015, freelance reporter Raimundos Oki wrote an
article for the Timor Post in
which he accused East Timor Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araújo of
possible “bid rigging” in a
government computer contract. In this case, Oki contends that Araujo had a
history of this practice, and according to internal government documents, he
gave preferential treatment to a particular technological firm—Packet
Sistemindonesia Teknotama (PT).
Defamation charges
After the story’s release, the government claimed Oki had
released the story with a “factual error” by misspelling the name of technology
firm, PT. On November 17, 2015, The Timor Post issued a correction with the
accurate spelling of PT and printed a written response from the prime minister’s
office, defending itself against the accusations. In January 2016, the East
Timor Government charged Oki with criminal defamation charges. Oki faces a
maximum sentence of three years in jail if convicted.
Outside support
As in the case of Jose Belo, many press freedom groups have
voiced their support for Oki. The IFJ, CPJ, and Freedom House are just a few who have
reached out to the East Timor Government. In a letter sent to Prime Minister de
Araujo in April 2016, they urged him to drop charges against Oki and his former
editor, Lourenco Martins. In a response letter to the group, Araujo said: “I
will not trade press freedom and fre edom of expression with ‘press irresponsibility’
and ‘irresponsible expression of freedom.”
On 1 June, a Dili court cleared Raimundos Oki and Lourenco Vicente Martins of all charges against them. The two Timorese journalists were on trial on criminal “defamatory false information” charges filed by Timor-Leste’s Prime Minister in 2016.
Raimundos Oki and Lourenco Vicente Martins were cleared of criminal defamation on 1 June by a court in Dili, Timor-Leste’s capital. Prime Minister Rui Aria de Araujo filed criminal charges on 22 January 2016 against the two journalists for “defamatory false information” or “slanderous denunciation” under Article 285(1) of the Timor-Leste Criminal Code over a 2015 article they published about irregularities during the tendering process for a government IT project.
On 1 June, a Dili court cleared Raimundos Oki and Lourenco Vicente Martins of all charges against them. The two Timorese journalists were on trial on criminal “defamatory false information” charges filed by Timor-Leste’s Prime Minister in 2016.
Raimundos Oki and Lourenco Vicente Martins were cleared of criminal defamation on 1 June by a court in Dili, Timor-Leste’s capital. Prime Minister Rui Aria de Araujo filed criminal charges on 22 January 2016 against the two journalists for “defamatory false information” or “slanderous denunciation” under Article 285(1) of the Timor-Leste Criminal Code over a 2015 article they published about irregularities during the tendering process for a government IT project.
