Two online media in Makassar, Herald.id and inikata.co.id, were sued in civil law for IDR 700 billion.
This case has been heard with the agenda of reading the lawsuit at the Makassar district court, on Tuesday, February 20 2024.
The plaintiffs are five special staff of the former Governor of South Sulawesi (Sulsel), Andi Sudirman Sulaiman. The special staff is named Muh. Hasanuddin Taiben, Andi Ilal Tasma, Andi Chidayat Abdullah, Arif and Arman.
The five special staff of the former Governor of South Sulawesi sued 2 media outlets, 1 source and 2 journalists who wrote news containing information that many State Civil Apparatus (ASN) within the South Sulawesi Provincial Government were laid off and transferred during the leadership era of the South Sulawesi Governor last period.
It is strongly suspected that the transfers, demotions and non-employment of civil servants are due to the influence or intervention of staff in particular. The news was published on September 19, 2023, and October 1, 2023.
That day, the resource person who was the affected ASN held a press conference, expressing his disappointment because several employees had been transferred and also laid off without clear reasons or explanations. And not in accordance with applicable performance evaluation rules.
All the plaintiffs had actually been given the right to reply, but they still sued because the news had already been published. The news was considered to have harmed and cornered them. They think the right to reply should be before the news published.