Experts call for review of 1996 Press Law

JAKARTA (JP): Experts greeted the scheduled endorsement of the broadcasting bill over the weekend, calling for equal "freedom" between broadcast and print journalists.

Mass communications expert Bachtiar Aly and legal expert Loebby Loqman, both from the University of Indonesia, called separately Saturday for review of the 1966 Press Law and the 1984 minister of information decree that enables the government to ban publications.

Bachtiar said the usual excuse the government gave for banning a publication was namely for the "sake of national stability", which reflected an undue anxiety over how a free press should behave.

He said the existing regulations enabled the government "to guillotine the press at anytime".

"The press law should be revised and the government should no longer be the sole authority to decide the fate of the mass media," he said. "Offenses committed by the press should instead be settled in court."

He added that the 1966 press law should be updated to keep up with the mass media's rapid development.

Bachtiar praised the broadcasting bill, to be passed on Thursday, for guaranteeing a greater openness and freedom for the electronic media. The existing print media regulations should be revised so that print journalists can enjoy a similar freedom, he said.

He conceded the Press Law has provided freedom for the press, but the 1984 ministerial decree on the banning of publications, which he said was inconsistent with the law, was a looming threat.

The government-sponsored broadcasting bill was endorsed by the House of Representatives in December, but President Soeharto refused to sign it into law citing several problematic articles.

The document was then returned for an unprecedented redeliberation. The new draft stipulates, for instance, that a private television station license is effective for 10 years rather than five years as the original draft said.

Bachtiar Aly was not the first observer to criticize the 1984 ministerial decree. The government has usually been able to deflect protest against the decree, which says that a publication's license can be revoked.

Victims of the decree include newsweeklies Tempo, Editor and DeTik which were banned in 1994. Legal measures against the banning have so far been unsuccessful.

Loebby said he supported Bachtiar Aly in calling on the government to start taking press offenses to court rather than banning the publications.

New publications

In a related development, the Central Java Big Family Foundation, founded by hotelier Sukamdani Sahid Gitosardjono and provincial governor Soewardi, will launch Solo Pos daily in October.

"The 30 million-population Central Java market has great potential," the foundation executive Agus Sudono told Antara Saturday.

Sudono said the new daily is prepared to compete with daily Suara Merdeka in Semarang, Yogya Pos and Kedaulatan Rakyat newspapers in Yogyakarta.

General manager of Bisnis Indonesia, Sukamdani, has reportedly allocated Rp 12 billion for the newspaper.

Dharmais foundation, chaired by President Soeharto in his capacity as a private citizen, also received a license last month to launch a magazine. Dharmais magazine was previously published as an in-house magazine for foundations chaired by Soeharto.

Former defunct Tempo newsweekly reporters are reportedly preparing the launch of economic weekly Pilar at the end of this year.

Jawa Pos group has recently relaunched Prospect magazine. It also won the permit last week to manage daily Semarak in cooperation with Bengkulu provincial authorities after a five- year trial operation.

Meanwhile, Bakrie group recently became the managers of Sinar Pagi to compete with the popular Pos Kota newspaper. (10/prb)