RI priest slams govt Nobel prize stance<\/p>\n
SEMARANG (JP): A prominent community leader in Yogyakarta has
\ncriticized Indonesia for its callow response to the awarding of
\nthe Nobel Peace Prize to East Timorese separatist leader Jose
\nRamos Horta.<\/p>\n
Y.B. Mangunwijaya, a Catholic priest and prominent literary
\nfigure, said Indonesia should have accepted the Norwegian Nobel
\nCommittee's decision gracefully.<\/p>\n
\"As a nation with character, it would be unsuitable for us to
\nabase the jury which selected the recipients, because it is
\nreally an institution with international credibility,\" said
\nMangunwijaya, also known as Romo (Father) Mangun.<\/p>\n
He urged the nation to refrain from petty actions such as
\nmaking spiteful statements against the Nobel Committee.<\/p>\n
Horta and Dili Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo were
\nannounced as winners of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize last week.<\/p>\n
Jakarta reacted strongly to Horta's selection, with senior
\ngovernment officials questioning the committee's selection
\ncriteria.<\/p>\n
Mangunwijaya commended the government for refraining from
\nmaking an official statement on the matter, but regretted that
\nofficials had made unflattering remarks about the Nobel Committee
\nand berated Horta's selection.<\/p>\n
He said the statements could boomerang and create a negative
\ninternational opinion of Indonesia. He pointed out that Indonesia
\ncould be perceived as being like the old Soviet Union, which
\ngriped over the Nobel Prize of novelist Boris Pasternak.<\/p>\n
The awarding of the Nobel Prize for literature to Pasternak in
\n1958 aroused so much suspicion in the old Soviet regime that the
\nwriter had to refuse it.<\/p>\n
\"If the government and high-rank officials here take an
\nantagonistic attitude towards the Nobel Prize, it could drag
\nIndonesia's name down to the level of those countries which have
\nbalked over their citizens receiving the award,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He doubted suggestions that the awarding of the Nobel Prize to
\nHorta was \"contrived\", saying that the jury members were not
\npeople who would resort to such behavior. He also pointed out
\nthat the selection involves a lengthy process.<\/p>\n
In Dili, East Timor, the chorus of indignation has continued,
\nwith the chairman of the provincial legislature, Antonio Freitas
\nParada, accusing Horta of being behind fence-jumping incidents at
\nforeign embassies in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Eighty-nine Timorese youth have received asylum in Portugal
\nafter breaking into several embassies in Jakarta since September
\n1995. (har\/03\/mds)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-priest-slams-govt-nobel-prize-stance-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}