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Media experts on Tuesday welcomed the Jakarta High Court’s decision to overturn a guilty verdict imposed on a kiosk owner who had been convicted of libel for having written a complaint letter about a property company.

Press Council member Abdullah Alamudi said that the council was pleased the court had supported freedom of speech.

“That’s the way it should be because people who express their opinion must not be criminalized,” he said.

Kiosk owner Khoe Seng Seng, also known as Aseng, had been found guilty after property developer PT Duta Pertiwi filed a complaint against him and Kwee Meng Luan in 2006 for writing several letters to print media outlets saying that the developer had failed to live up to their promises regarding a transaction for a kiosk sale at ITC Mangga Dua. The High Court accepted Seng’s appeal on Tuesday, overturning the guilty verdict.

Abdullah said that the decision to publish the letters was made by the media’s management, and therefore they must bear the responsibility for the offending articles which appeared in their newspapers.

“Hopefully, this will clarify that the responsibility to publish a complaint letter lies in the media itself and that the public will be encouraged to express their opinions and criticisms as it is guaranteed by the Constitution,” he said.

Ahmad Faisol, from the Institute for the Free Flow of Information, also welcomed the court’s decision and agreed with the Press Council’s stance.

“This is a press-related matter and therefore it should be settled accordingly to the press law,” Ahmad said.