AJI members tell court they spread no hatred<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Two journalists accused of sowing hatred against
\nthe government through articles in the unlicensed Independen
\nmagazine denied all charges in a court session yesterday.<\/p>\n
Ahmad Taufik, 29, and Eko Maryadi, 27 -- both members of the
\nAlliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) -- told the judges in
\nthe Central Jakarta District Court that they only wrote facts in
\nthe articles of Independen.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor T.S Limbong previously demanded the judges sentence
\neach of the defendants to four years in jail, saying that they
\npublished articles which incited public hatred and enmity against
\nthe government.<\/p>\n
Limbong cited as an example the publication's articles about
\nthe Minister of Information's alleged burgeoning financial
\nholdings in the local media and the minister's alleged political
\nmaneuvering ahead of the 1997 general election as well as the
\n1998 presidential election.<\/p>\n
\"If writing a fact such as in our articles is considered as
\nsowing hatred, I am afraid this court will be full of press
\noffenses,\" Taufik said, adding that such articles filled and
\nbecame headlines in local media over the last two months.<\/p>\n
Although the two defendants stressed that their articles were
\ncorrect, they denied all responsibility for the articles'
\ncontent, saying that neither of them were the chief editor of the
\nmagazine.<\/p>\n
The unlicensed Independen was not published by the executives
\nof AJI, but by some of its members in Bandung, Taufik said.<\/p>\n
However, he insisted, AJI does not recognize the Minister of
\nInformation's decree requiring all media to obtain publishing
\nlicenses from the government. AJI also rejects the Indonesian
\nJournalists Association (PWI) as the sole organization
\nrepresenting Indonesian journalists, he said, adding that such
\nregulations contradict the 1945 Constitution, which assures the
\nrights of speech and assembly.<\/p>\n
AJI was founded after the government banned three weeklies,
\nDeTIK, Tempo and Editor, in June last year.<\/p>\n
The government has not yet outlawed AJI, but banned Independen
\nin March. However, following governmental pressure, some AJI
\nmembers working for various local publications have been forced
\nto resign from their jobs or have been forced to move to non-
\neditorial positions.<\/p>\n
The defendants' lawyers said that according to witnesses'
\ntestimonies in the court, the prosecutor's charges were not
\nproved.<\/p>\n
\"Not one of the witnesses stated that Taufik or Eko was the
\nchief editor of Independen, who should be responsible for
\ncontent,\" said Bambang Wijoyanto, one of defendants' lawyers.<\/p>\n
Expert witnesses such as senior journalists Mochtar Lubis and
\nAtmakusumah thought that the articles in Independen were balanced
\nand did not spark social unrest or public hatred, Bambang added.<\/p>\n
In a related development, Danang Kukuh Maryadi, 19, was
\nsentenced to 20 months imprisonment on Thursday after the court
\nfound him guilty of helping Eko and Taufik distribute copies of
\nthe magazine. (29)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/aji-members-tell-court-they-spread-no-hatred-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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