Plan to ban press coverage slammed<\/p>\n
JAKARTA: State Minister of Communications and Information
\nSyamsul Mu'arif slammed on Wednesday plans by the Jakarta High
\nCourt to ban reporters from covering trials, calling it baseless.<\/p>\n
Syamsul said he might tolerate a ruling to limit the number of
\nreporters covering a trial but not a complete ban. \"I think it's
\nbaseless,\" he said after attending the trial on House Speaker
\nAkbar Tandjung.<\/p>\n
He was commenting on plans by the head of the Jakarta High
\nCourt, Ridwan Nasution, to dismiss reporters from court rooms.<\/p>\n
According to Ridwan, judges felt under pressure over what they
\ncharge were trials by the press.<\/p>\n
However chairman of the Indonesian Press Council Atmakusumah
\nAstraatmadja criticized the plan as a violation of press freedom.
\n-- Antara<\/p>\n
'Bung Karno reincarnation' forms party<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA: A man who thinks he is the reincarnation of first
\npresident Soekarno or Bung Karno, set up his own political party
\non Wednesday in a bid to join the 2004 general election.<\/p>\n
Mohammad Arief Koesno, 62, declared the establishment of the
\nIndonesian National Unity and Fusion Party (PPPKBI) in Yogyakarta
\nin an event that attracted thousands from East and Central Java.
\nNo government officials were present.<\/p>\n
Arief Koesno wore Soekarno's trademark black cap, his sunglasses
\nand the commando stick while he addressed his supporters with the
\nsame vigor which had made Soekarno a famous orator.<\/p>\n
\"We want to create the lighthouse for the world just as
\nSoekarno dreamed of: \"The Emerging Forces\" or the new world. This
\nwe must create,\" he told a cheering crowd.<\/p>\n
Arief Koesno, known to his followers as Romo Yoso, said he was
\nready to become Indonesia's president and would like to lead the
\nworld. -- JP<\/p>",
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