Banned publications deserve reprieve: Emil<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Leading reform campaigner Emil Salim said
\nyesterday that the political openness required for reform should
\nbe preceded by a respect for media freedoms.<\/p>\n
Emil called on President B.J. Habibie to allow publications
\nclosed down by former president Soeharto's regime to reopen.<\/p>\n
\"(Publications) such as Tempo, Editor and DeTik which won
\ntheir cases (against the government) in court, should of course
\nbe allowed to publish again,\" Emil told reporters after he and
\nfour other pro-reform activists met with Habibie at the Bina
\nGraha presidential office yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"They won in court. They should legally be allowed to publish
\nagain,\" Emil said of the weeklies which were banned in 1994.<\/p>\n
The employees of Tempo sued the Ministry of Information over
\nthe banning of the magazine and won in the lower and higher
\nadministrative courts in Jakarta. They lost their case in the
\nSupreme Court, much to the consternation of Indonesian
\njournalists.<\/p>\n
The government banned the weeklies for administrative
\nviolations as well as their \"editorial content\".<\/p>\n
The public speculation, however, was that the publications
\nwere muzzled because their reports offended certain parties in
\nthe political elite, including Habibie, who, in his position as
\nstate minister of research and technology, was in charge of a
\nmuch-criticized purchase of 39 used warships from Germany.<\/p>\n
Journalists who lost their jobs and felt they were not
\nadequately protected by the official Association of Indonesian
\nJournalists (PWI) protested by establishing the Alliance of
\nIndependent Journalists (AJI).<\/p>\n
Yesterday, the alliance made a call for reform in the mass
\nmedia, demanding a cease to government meddling in the media and
\na termination of censorship and bannings. They also urged the
\ngovernment to lift its restriction that journalists may only
\nassemble in the sole, government-sanctioned PWI.<\/p>\n
In addition, the alliance called for an end to regulations
\nconstricting media freedoms, including a requirement for
\npublication licenses.<\/p>\n
In a related development, the Yogyakarta PWI branch urged the
\nlocal police yesterday to open a fresh investigation into the
\n1996 murder of Bernas daily reporter Fuad Muhammad Syafruddin.<\/p>\n
Masduki Atamimi said the PWI investigation team for the case
\nand the police could now \"literally join hands\" in revealing the
\nfacts of the case. He said Bantul police chief Lt. Col. Yotje
\nMende had called his team and asked for further information.<\/p>\n
Fuad, better known as Udin, was attacked by a group of
\nunidentified men at his home in Bantul on August 13, 1996. He
\ndied three days later in a hospital without regaining
\nconsciousness.<\/p>\n
Police, widely criticized for their dubious methods in the
\ninvestigation, charged Dwi Sumaji of killing the reporter, but he
\nwas later acquitted. Many people believed Udin was killed because
\nof his critical reporting.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta yesterday, National Police spokesman Brig. Gen.
\nDa'i Bachtiar said police were looking into new clues regarding
\nUdin's murder.<\/p>\n
\"We will continue to work on the case. We are calling on
\npeople with information to come forward,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"The police has received demands from journalists and PWI
\nchairman, Sofyan Lubis, to continue the investigation. Currently
\nwe are running it, and hopefully we will gain a more informative
\nand transparent result,\" Da'i added. (swe\/23\/edt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/banned-publications-deserve-reprieve-emil-1447893297",
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