Four-year prison term sought for journalists
Four-year prison term sought for journalists
JAKARTA (JP): The Central Jakarta District Court was urged by
the prosecution yesterday to sentence each of two activists
accused of insulting the government to four years imprisonment.
Prosecutor Limbong said Ahmad Taufik, 29, and Eko Maryadi, 27
-- both members of the unrecognized Alliance of Independent
Journalists (AJI), had spread hatred against and animosity
towards the government by distributing and selling AJI's
unlicensed publication Independen.. He said their activities
violated article 134 of the Criminal Code.
"I demand that each of the two defendants be sentenced to four
years in prison," the prosecutor told Justice Madjono
Widiatmadja.
The maximum penalty for the offense alleged is seven years'
imprisonment.
Limbong said in the indictment that Independen contained
articles which incited public hatred of the government and enmity
towards it. He cited as examples the publication's articles about
the Minister of Information's alleging burgeoning financial
holdings in the local media, the minister's alleged political
maneuvering ahead of the 1997 general election, and President
Soeharto's allegedly high-handed policies.
He said that the defendants' activities could spark social
unrest and disturb national unity.
Eko and Ahmad are both former journalists of the banned Tempo
news weekly.
The government recognizes only the Indonesian Journalists'
Association (PWI) as the sole organization representing
Indonesian journalists. It also requires that all publications
obtain a publishing license from the Ministry of Information.
The government banned Independen in March but has not, as yet,
outlawed AJI. However, following government pressure, some AJI
members working for various local publications have been forced
to resign from their jobs or have been forced to move to non-
editorial positions.
AJI was founded after the government banned three news
weeklies, DeTik, Tempo and Editor, in June last year.
After the government banned Independen, security officers
arrested Eko and Taufik, as well as AJI office worker Danang
Kukuh Wardoyo, in March.
Danang, 19, was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment by the
same court on Thursday after the court found him guilty of
helping Eko and Ahmad distribute copies of the magazine.
Danang, who was reportedly employed on a monthly salary of Rp
100,000 (US$44) by AJI, is said to be the youngest person jailed
on political charges in Indonesia. (29)