Armed Forces legislators regret media ban<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Legislators from the Armed Forces on Saturday
\nsupported journalists' efforts to lift a media ban by saying that
\nthey will seek a congenial solution.<\/p>\n
They also urged the journalists to file a law suit against the
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
The government closed down Tempo and two other news magazines
\nlast month for ignoring government warnings on news policy and
\noperational management.<\/p>\n
Delegate Toriq Hadad, Jakarta bureau chief of Tempo, quoted
\nMaj. Gen. Suparman of the House of Representatives (DPR), as
\nsaying that the Armed Forces faction will lobby the authorities
\nto find a way out of the controversy.<\/p>\n
\"It's completely different from the cold response that we got
\nfrom Golkar,\" said one delegate, referring to the hearing on the
\nsame day between around 50 Tempo journalists and the ruling
\nGolkar faction.<\/p>\n
Golkar is the government party whose chairman is Minister of
\nInformation Harmoko.<\/p>\n
\"Suparman has given us new hope. He shares our concern too,\"
\nsaid Bambang Harymurti, a Tempo correspondent, who headed the
\ndelegation.<\/p>\n
Debate<\/p>\n
The hearing with the Golkar faction, however, turned into a
\nheated debate as legislator Abu Hasan Sazili said that the media
\nban was in line with the law, referring to Press Act No. 21\/1982
\nas well as the Information Minister's decree No. 1\/1984.<\/p>\n
The newsmen said that up to date they have never known the
\nreal reason behind the Tempo ban, adding that the magazine had
\nnever had any serious problem regarding its coverage of the
\ntribal people of Sasak on Lombok Island and the Dayaks of
\nKalimantan, as well as its cartoon about the land controversy.<\/p>\n
Harmoko had earlier told DPR members that Tempo had insulted
\nthe feelings of those people, which later prompted the government
\nto close down the magazine.<\/p>\n
Prior to Saturday's meetings, Tempo journalists had met with
\nlegislators of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) and the
\nUnited Development Party (PPP).<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Wahono, the DPR speaker, said in a plenary session
\non Saturday that the government and the press should have
\n'similar perceptions' on the concept of a free and responsible
\npress.<\/p>\n
\"In the era of openness, a press ban is a regrettable action,\"
\nWahono said, without specifying whether DPR would take any steps
\nregarding the ban. (B09)<\/p>",
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