80 journalists from Java set up rival association

80 journalists from Java set up rival association

SIRNAGALIH, West Java (JP): Journalists vowed yesterday to
continue protests against the restriction of press freedom and
have formed a union to challenge the government-sanctioned
Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI).

The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) was established
in this hilly resort by more than 80 journalists from major
cities such as Jakarta, Bandung in West Java, Yogyakarta and
Surabaya in East Java.

After an all-night-long meeting, also attended by a number of
scholars and activists, the journalists came up with a
declaration which reaffirmed that freedom of speech, access to
information and freedom of association were the basic rights of
all people.

They also rejected all kinds of interference, intimidation,
censorship and media bans which denied the freedom of speech and
open access to information.

The maneuver was among the series of actions initiated by the
journalists to protest the recent ban of three prominent
magazines, Tempo, Editor and DeTIK.

Tempo lost its publication license for the content of its
reports. The government revoked the publishing permits of Editor
and DeTIK on the pretext that they violated the terms of their
licenses.

On Thursday, around 100 protesting journalists expressed their
anger at PWI for its failure to represent the displaced reporters
and employees of the banned magazines.

The journalists claimed yesterday that PWI had failed to
represent the interests of its members. "PWI has failed to carry
out the trust given to it by the members," said Goenawan Mohamad,
the chief editor of Tempo.

Goenawan is one of the signatories, which include other senior
journalists like Eros Djarot and Fikri Jufri, the deputy editors
of DeTIK and Tempo respectively, Aristides Katoppo, the former
chief editor of the now defunct Sinar Harapan daily newspaper, as
well as noted intellectuals Christianto Wibisono and Arief
Budiman.

"We hope that this movement will push for the creation of a
condition conducive for the freedom of expression," he said.

The declaration was signed by 55 people, including
journalists, several editors of the banned magazines and
activists.

The government has, in the past, revoked the license of
several publications, such as the Prioritas and Sinar Harapan
dailies and Monitor tabloid. (als/anr/09/par)