Washington Post admits story on Indonesian military incorrect
Tuesday, February 25 2003 - 12:23 AM WIB
"There was no involvement of Indonesian Defense Force (TNI) Commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto and other TNI senior officers in a plan for the attack prior to the incident," lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis told reporters in a joint press conference with Endriartono's lawyers.
"The Washington Post expresses its regret over the Nov. 3 article and will make clarifications by Feb. 28 in the Washington Post and its online version washingtonpost.com," he said.
Lubis made the statement following an out-of-court settlement reached between the newspaper and Endriartono after several rounds of negotiations.
In the article, the Washington Post quoted a U.S. government official and another U.S. source as saying that senior Indonesian military officers, including Endriartono, had allegedly discussed an unspecified operation against giant U.S. gold and copper mine P.T. Freeport Indonesia in efforts to discredit the separatist Free Papua Movement.
The paper reported that the meeting of the senior military officers had taken place before a fatal ambush by a group of gunmen against Freeport employees Aug. 31, in which two American teachers and an Indonesian teacher were killed.
U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents have traveled to Papua to assist Indonesian police in investigating the case.
Endriartono's lawyer Trimoelja D. Soerjadi told the press conference that in the corrected article titled "Involvement of Indonesian military: Post corrects Nov. 3 report on Freeport ambush," the newspaper will say that after making further investigation, it found that the meeting of the senior military officers was not "substantiated."
"We hope this case will be a precious lesson for every journalist, especially from foreign media," Trimoelja said. (*)