Bambang Harymurti

Bambang Harymurti (; born 10 December 1956), commonly referred to by his initials BHM, He is currently serving as deputy chair of Indonesia's Press Council.

Biography Harymurti was born on 10 December 1956, to air force pilot Ahmad Soedarsono and Karlina Koesoemadinata. As a child, he dreamed of becoming an astronaut. Although he hoped to apply for Indonesia's space program, he took a job with Tempo in 1982 to help support his family after his father's death.

While on assignment with Tempo to cover Indonesia's space program, Harymurti qualified as a potential astronaut. Ahmad Taufik, published an article on 3 March 2003 implicating Winata in the burning of the Tanah Abang textile market in Jakarta, a fire from which Winata allegedly stood to profit. According to Taufik, he discovered following the fire that Winata had submitted plans for renovating the market only a few months before.

On 7 March, the magazine was threatened with libel charges by Winata's lawyers; the following day, a group of over 200 protesters appeared at the Tempo offices and allegedly threatened to burn the office down, gouge Taufik's eyes out, shouted racial insults, and assaulted Taufik when he went outside to speak with them. Harymurti called the charges "the biggest and worst scandal in [Indonesia's] legal system." Harymutri's trial was also protested by international press freedom organisations such as ARTICLE 19, Freedom House, Index on Censorship, the World Press Freedom Committee, the World Association of Newspapers, Reporters Without Borders, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, and The Committee to Protect Journalists. In a letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Human Rights Watch also criticised Indonesia's "more restrictive environment" for journalists, which it said Harymurti had come to symbolise. US Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz criticised the arrest in a New York Times editorial, stating that the trial had "implications far beyond the courtroom in Jakarta", describing it as a test for Indonesian democracy.

On 16 September 2004, Harymurti was found guilty of "defamation and false reporting" and sentenced to a year in prison, while Taufik and Ali were exonerated. The Central Jakarta Court's ruling that Tempo had to pay USD 55,000 in damages was later overturned. A court spokesperson stated, "We want to ensure that journalists are protected", and affirmed the National Press Law was lex specialis, above the criminal code (KUHP). Harymurti welcomed the decision as "not a personal victory but a victory for all Indonesian journalists".

Harymurti is currently serving as the deputy chair of Indonesia's Press Council.

Personal life Harymurti married his long-time friend Marga Alisjahbana in 1984. Together they have two children.