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Jakarta. The Press Council and the National Police are finalizing an agreement on handling public complaints about news reports, officials said on Monday.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Iskandar Hasan said the memorandum of understanding would include provisions that police would not process defamation complaints over news reports unless all means of dispute settlement at the council had been exhausted.

“In the future, plaintiffs won’t be able to directly file a police report on defamation. They’d have to go to the Press Council first, which would mediate and allow them to reply through the media,” Iskandar said.

He added that if any case eventually ended up with police, council members would be appointed as expert witnesses in the case.

The agreement is expected to be signed by National Police Chief Comr. Gen. Timur Pradopo and Press Council chairman Bagir Manan.

Council member Bekti Nugroho told the Jakarta Globe that the agreement would serve as a common ground between the two institutions in their efforts to safeguard press freedom in the country.

“There have been many cases where journalists are charged with defamation over their news reports, and we want the police to understand that such cases must be referred to the council first before a criminal complaint is processed,” he said.

The agreement has been in the works since the tenure of former National Police Chief Sutanto, who headed the force from 2005 to 2008, Bekti said, and the council is now waiting for a final correction to the draft before it is signed.

“We both came up with our own drafts that we then synchronized so that expectations from both sides are accommodated in the agreement,” he said.

One of the conditions negotiated during the drafting was that the council comply with the 2008 Freedom of Information Law on not leaking classified documents pertaining to legal investigations.

“The police also asked us to ensure the press would be more professional and adhere to the journalistic code of ethics, since they believe the press has been unfair and inaccurate in its reporting on the police,” Bekti said.

In a related development, officials from the Golkar Party filed a criminal complaint against Yudi Latief, a political expert, for allegedly defaming party chairman Aburizal Bakrie.

M. Alzier Dianis Thabranie, head of Golkar’s Lampung branch, said Yudi had claimed on Metro TV that Aburizal had bribed former tax official Gayus Tambunan.

“This is a baseless allegation and police should investigate,” he said.

Gayus previously claimed to have received bribes from several companies for favorable tax treatment, including firms linked to Aburizal, who has already reported a number of Indonesian media organizations to the Press Council for allegedly defaming him.