AJI members formally charged by police
AJI members formally charged by police
JAKARTA (JP): Police announced on Saturday that they have formally detained three members of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), whom they accuse of spreading anti-government sentiment by means of an unlicensed bulletin, Independen.
The three were arrested on Thursday evening along with two other people after the conclusion of a gathering held by the group at the Wisata International Hotel in Central Jakarta.
City Police spokesman, Lt. Col. Bambang Haryoko, told reporters on Saturday that the suspects were Ahmad Taufik, Eko Maryadi and Danang.
The first two are, respectively, a former reporter and a former staff member of the recently outlawed Tempo magazine. Danang was a member of the AJI's office staff at the alliance's headquarters in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta.
"The three have been formally detained since Friday," the spokesman said.
Two other members, identified by the police as Jimmy Sakir and Abdul Haris, had been released but were still needed as witnesses in the case, he said.
According to Bambang, the police have also confiscated 11 copies of the latest issue of AJI's Independen bulletin. The confiscated publication contains articles regarding, among other things, the leadership succession in Indonesia. Sources say some 10,000 copies of the latest edition were printed.
Police said that copies of the bulletin, whose front page states it is intended for internal group distribution, were sold publicly at hotels.
"By law, if they want to produce, distribute and sell a publication to the public, they must obtain a valid license from the government," Head of the City Police Crime Investigation Directorate Col. Nurfauzi said on Friday.
"That's the law, which all of us have to obey," the senior police detective said.
Police said that the five suspects had been picked up at the hotel after an Halal bi Halal (Moslem gathering after the Idul Fitri festival) party held at the three-star hotel by the journalists group.
"They were formally arrested on the basis of facts and data we have compiled," Bambang said.
In contrast the police version of events, the AJI claims that Taufik, Danang and two other people left city police headquarters later on the evening of their arrest after they found that they were being ignored by police.
Police arrested some of the suspects on the next day, AJI said.
The three suspects were later detained at the City Police Headquarters, awaiting completion of the dossiers.
"I know that all of the (AJI's) members are quite brave. Therefore, I urge them to come to the police stations to provide testimony," Bambang said.
If found guilty of sowing the seeds of discontent among the public, the suspects will face up to seven year's imprisonment.
It is believed that a number of other people from the alliance as well as the bulletin's publisher will be questioned by the police in relation to the bulletin's production, distribution and sale.
The AJI, which was founded last year after the banning of three Indonesian newsweeklies in June, is yet to be recognized by the government.
To date, the government recognizes only the government- sponsored Indonesian Journalists Association as representing journalists' interests.
Many former journalists of the banned weeklies joined the alliance, which has produced a number of issues of Independen with articles on controversial topics.
According to spokesman Bambang, police officers have determined that the bulletin was sold to the public at the hotel at a price of Rp 2,000 (90 US cents) per copy.
"They (the AJI members) have the right to claim that they didn't sell it to the public, but to participants in the gathering at the hotel. But who can guarantee that all the buyers were participants in the gathering?" Bambang asked. (bsr)