New York-based CPJ asks RI to encourage press freedom<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government has been asked to revive its commitment to
\npress freedom following its decision to reject an Australian
\njournalist's application for renewal of his visa.<\/p>\n
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), in
\na letter to President Megawati Soekarnoputri dated March 18, said
\nthe decision was effectively banning Lindsay Murdoch from working
\nas a correspondent in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"This is a clear attempt to punish Murdoch for writing stories
\nthat criticize government policies,\" CPJ said in the letter
\nsigned by its executive director Ann K. Cooper.<\/p>\n
Murdoch, who works for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age,
\nsaid on Sunday he had been told that two articles in particular
\nled to the ban by an interdepartmental committee.<\/p>\n
One was about how East Timorese children had been taken from
\nrefugee camps in Indonesian West Timor and left in orphanages on
\nJava island. Another told how soldiers in a village in Aceh
\nprovince killed a four-month-old baby in May by pouring boiling
\nwater over it.<\/p>\n
\"To the best of our knowledge, Indonesian authorities have not
\ndenied that these incidents occurred,\" CPJ said in its letter to
\nMegawati urging her to reverse the decision.<\/p>\n
\"They should not be expelling a reporter for bringing such
\nabuses to light.\"<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denied the allegations
\nthat it is discouraging press freedom and said that it, like
\nother countries, was under no obligation to explain the reason
\nfor the issuance or non-issuance of a visa.<\/p>\n
CPJ said that the refusal to grant Murdoch a visa undermined
\nIndonesia's commitment to press freedom, which regained ground in
\nthe country following the fall of the three-decade-long
\nauthoritarian regime under Soeharto in May 1998.<\/p>\n
\"Following Soeharto's ouster in 1998, one of the most sweeping
\nand positive changes in Indonesia was the establishment of a free
\npress,\" CPJ said.<\/p>\n
The international organization also asked Megawati to disband
\nany government committee that seeks to censor or judge the work
\nof journalists in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Also protesting the ban was the Alliance of Independent
\nJournalists (AJI), who described the government move as \"an
\nobvious violation of and threat to press freedom\".<\/p>\n
AJI said the incident would enforce self-censorship among
\nforeign and local journalists, which would only taint the image
\nof Megawati's government.<\/p>\n
\"What the present government is doing now is a repetition of
\nthe policy of the Soeharto government, which often banned
\ncritical foreign media from entering the country,\" AJI said in a
\nstatement signed by its chairwoman Ati Nurbaiti and secretary-
\ngeneral Solahudin,<\/p>\n
State Minister for Information and Communication Syamsul
\nMu'arif said he had not been informed about the foreign
\nministry's refusal to renew Murdoch's working visa.<\/p>\n
\"I will clarify this matter during the coming Cabinet meeting
\n(on Thursday). But I hope what has happened in Murdoch's case
\ndoes not represent the government's attempt to control the
\nmedia,\" he said on the sidelines of a hearing with the House of
\nRepresentatives on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
He said he was considering establishing a clearing house in
\nhis office to tackle specific matters, including the action taken
\nagainst Murdoch.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/new-york-based-cpj-asks-ri-to-encourage-press-freedom-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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