Violence peppers Taufik's career<\/p>\n
Kornelius Purba, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
As a journalist for Tempo weekly, Ahmad Taufik endured the
\nhardship of prison life for two years during the Soeharto regime
\nfor activism that was deemed subversive.<\/p>\n
However, compared to state violence, for Taufik, the savage
\nbehavior of people working for business tycoon Tomy Winata toward
\nthe magazine was more violent than anything he experienced during
\nthe Soeharto era.<\/p>\n
He was horrified when about 100 supporters of Tomy, led by the
\nChinese-Indonesian businessman's right-hand man, David, attacked
\nthe magazine's offices on Jl. Proklamasi, Central Jakarta, on
\nMarch 8. They reportedly threatened to burn down the office and
\nkill people working there after the magazine refused to retract a
\nreport in its March 3 edition, which implied that Tomy could
\nprofit from a fire that destroyed Tanah Abang market last month.
\nThe magazine said that Tomy had proposed a Rp 52 billion
\nrenovation plan prior to the fire.<\/p>\n
According to Taufik, David, alias A Miauw, threatened to kill
\nhim and hit the magazine's chief editor Bambang Harymurti in
\nfront of police officers.<\/p>\n
\"The moment was more horrifying than when my friends and I
\nwere arrested by the police and jailed in 1995. At that time we
\nfaced police and military officers. But on March 8 we faced
\nthugs,\" Taufik told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Born on July 12, 1965 in Jakarta, Taufik started his career as
\na journalist while studying at the School of Law at the Bandung
\nIslamic University (UNISBA) from 1984 to 1990. He was known as an
\nenergetic student activist and held the position of chairman of
\nthe school's student senate.<\/p>\n
As a freelancer while still studying, he wrote about sports
\nfor Bola sports weekly, and other articles for Mutiara magazine
\nand Bandung-based daily Pikiran Rakyat.<\/p>\n
Later Taufik, who is of Arab descent, worked as a
\ncorrespondent for the Jakarta-based Muslim-oriented Estafet
\nmonthly magazine in Bandung.<\/p>\n
He said he would never forget the kindness of Muchtar Effendy
\nHarahap, an editor at Estafet, who recruited him as a reporter
\nand patiently taught him about reporting. It was his first taste
\nof real journalism.<\/p>\n
He finished his studies in 1990, a few months after he joined
\nthe respected Tempo weekly on an apprenticeship program.<\/p>\n
\"The rector and the dean persuaded me to finish my studies
\nquickly, not because they were fond of me, but more because they
\nwere worried about my antigovernment activities,\" said Taufik,
\nwho calls Soeharto the most hateful person while his former boss,
\npoet Goenawan Mohamad, is his most respected Indonesian.<\/p>\n
After working for about four years, Taufik was appointed a
\nfull-time reporter for Tempo in April 1994. \"However, I was able
\nto enjoy a full salary for only two months,\" said the journalist,
\nwho idolized the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini.<\/p>\n
Angered by Tempo's report on the questionable purchase of 39
\nused warships from Germany in its June 11, 1994 edition,
\npresident Soeharto banned the magazine along with two other
\npublications on June 14, 1994. The procurement of the ships was
\nhandled by then state minister of research and technology B.J.
\nHabibie, who later replaced Soeharto as president in May 1998.
\nThe warships are still proving to be a headache for the Navy.<\/p>\n
Journalists and employees of the closed-down magazine then had
\nto find a way to survive. Many of them joined other publications
\nwhile hoping that the magazine would be allowed to reopen.
\nHowever, they had to wait for Soeharto's downfall, and in October
\n1998 Tempo hit the streets again.<\/p>\n
\"Life was very tough at that time because we all lost our only
\nsource of income,\" said Taufik.<\/p>\n
On Aug. 7, 1994, along with 57 other journalists and
\nactivists, Taufik founded the Alliance of Independent Journalists
\n(AJI) and was elected its first chairman. AJI then published the
\nIndependen newsletter without a permit. Since the government
\nrecognized only the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI) as
\nthe sole journalist organization, then minister of information
\nHarmoko, the owner of Pos Kota daily, instructed all publications
\nwith AJI members in their employ to fire them.<\/p>\n
Military and police hunted down the activists. On March 16,
\n1994, police arrested Taufik, journalist Eko Maryadi and AJI
\noffice boy Danang Kukuh Wardoyo. The Central Jakarta District
\nCourt sentenced him to three years in prison for sowing hatred
\nagainst the government and distributing Independen. He appealed
\nat the Jakarta High Court, and finally at the Supreme Court,
\nwhich reduced his sentence to two years and eight months.<\/p>\n
\"When I was arrested, my first son Ali Anzi Muntazhar was only
\nnine days old,\" Taufik recalled. His wife Syafa Illiyin had to
\ntake care their child alone.<\/p>\n
He spent 57 days in police detention before being moved to
\nSalemba Penitentiary, Central Jakarta, for one year, after which
\nhe was moved to Cipinang Penitentiary for five months. He was
\nthen moved to Cirebon and Sumedang in West Java.<\/p>\n
\"One of my favorite pastimes in Salemba was to peep at other
\ninmates making love in the warden's office, which they rented.
\nThe women were either their wives or prostitutes. I had to pay Rp
\n5,000 to peep at them for five minutes,\" Taufik remembered.<\/p>\n
Using a pseudonym, Taufik continued to write articles and
\nreports from prison for several newspapers and magazines. In
\nCipinang, he interviewed East Timorese Xanana Gusmao, who was
\njailed by the Indonesian government for rebellious activities.
\nXanana is now the president of East Timor.<\/p>\n
\"Xanana is a true leader. When he captained our soccer team he
\nalways ordered us to attack our opponents,\" Taufik said with a
\nbig smile.<\/p>\n
Taufik was released from prison in July 1997. In November
\n1997, he received an award from the Canadian Committee to Protect
\nJournalists just a few days before Soeharto attended the Asia
\nPacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vancouver, Canada.<\/p>\n
Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien reportedly offered
\nTaufik political asylum after he was involved in a demonstration
\nagainst Soeharto in Vancouver.<\/p>\n
\"I refused the offer because I wanted to struggle for my
\ncountry from within Indonesia,\" he hinted.<\/p>\n
Six months after his son Muhammad Khatami Aji was born in
\nApril 1998, Tempo resumed publication. Taufik has held several
\npositions there, from coordinator of the Jakarta bureau to
\nassistant editor for several desks. Currently he is the head of
\nthe national desk.<\/p>\n
\"I started my career as a journalist. I do not know how long
\nit will last, but I surely love the job,\" said Taufik.<\/p>",
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