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)