(AJI/IFEX) – The following is a 3 March 2000 press release by the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) – Jakarta Office, of which AJI is a member: Java: The Increasing Mass Pressure toward Media The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) Jakarta Office is alarmed over the ongoing mass pressure towards Indonesian media which has threatened […]
(AJI/IFEX) – The following is a 3 March 2000 press release by the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) – Jakarta Office, of which AJI is a member:
Java: The Increasing Mass Pressure toward Media
The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) Jakarta Office is alarmed over the ongoing mass pressure towards Indonesian media which has threatened the ability of media to do their jobs.
After being protested against by a group called the Front Pemuda Islam Surakarta (FPIS) (Youth Islamic Front of Surakarta), the PTPN Rasitania radio station, Solo, Central Java, has been unable to broadcast since Thursday, March 2, because some of its equipment was confiscated by the police.
According to the information collected by SEAPA, the demonstration, in which approximately 300 people participated, was held to protest a radio programme titled “Usaha Mengatasi Konflik Antar Umat Beragama” (Efforts to deal with Inter-Religions Conflict). The programme, broadcast on February 24, was considered by FPIS to be insulting to the Islamic faith.
The protesters demanded that the radio station issue an apology letter, to be broadcast 5 times daily for 7 days in a row. Moreover, FPIS also demanded that police seize the radio station’s equipment as material evidence. To calm the situation, the police went ahead with the seizure. At 12:00 on the day of the protest, the police confiscated the radio station’s equipment, including a stereo generator and a processor.
At the same time, in Bandung, West Java, more than 200 public transport drivers held a demonstration to protest against Metro Bandung, a daily newspaper, for publishing an article titled “Angkutan Preman di Jalan Tengah”, which was considered to be misleading.
The article, published on Wednesday, March 1, stated that the drivers were illegal and that they drove illegal routes. The drivers objected to being called illegal drivers despite the fact that they do not have public transport licenses.
As an organization of journalists dedicated to the defense of our colleagues and the promotion of press freedom, we are deeply concerned about the increasing mass pressure toward journalists and media, because it shows a deterioration of the state of press freedom in Indonesia.
We are dismayed that society itself is still unreceptive to a free press. A part of society that feels attacked by journalists’ reports, although they follow journalistic standards, tends to protest in a rough manner, without using legal norms. Therefore, we call on all parties that object to journalists’ reports to express their dissatisfaction by using the right of reply or by referring the matters to the court. We also request that all journalists always work in an independent and professional manner, never favoring one side, but rather favoring the facts, truth and justice.
