November 20, 2025 | 03:34 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Indonesia initially planned to submit an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief to the Constitutional Court. But the panel of judges instead asked AJI to testify in the judicial review of Article 8 of Law No. 40/1999 on the Press (Press Law) and its explanatory notes.
AJI Indonesia Secretary Bayu Wardhana said the organization would not waste the opportunity. In a hearing led by Chief Justice Suhartoyo, Bayu argued that the petition filed by the Association of Legal Journalists (Iwakum) against the article on journalist protection lacked clarity.
He asked the court to reject the challenge. "The petitioner's demands would actually narrow the meaning of legal protection," Bayu said in his testimony in the courtroom at the Constitutional Court building on Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta, on Tuesday, October 21, 2025.
Iwakum submitted its judicial review request on August 17. The group received legal-entity status only in early February this year, and it has 49 journalist members.
Article 8 of the Press Law guarantees legal protection for journalists performing their professional duties. The explanation to Article 8, as published in the State Gazette Supplement No. 3887, states that "legal protection" refers to assurances from the government and/or the public to safeguard journalists as they carry out their functions, rights, obligations, and roles under prevailing laws.
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