Govt moves to rein in press

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The freewheeling days when the Indonesian press was free to publish whatever it wanted look numbered as the government is preparing a bill to stem what it considers press excesses.

In all, there are 37 articles in the bill that can be used to bring the feisty press under control, and curtail the incidence of racy pictures and material, character assassination, unlawful ads and bogus journalists (those who pretend to be journalists to extort money).

State Minister for Communications and Information Syamsul Mu'arif said these provisions were designed to prevent "excessive freedom of the press".

"The provisions will first be introduced to the public and the press before being enforced," Syamsul told a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission I here on Thursday.

The press would be subject to the criminal code, he stressed.

Syamsul said he had initiated the bill as a result of public pressure. Certain sections of society, he said, thought that some publications had often printed erroneous and misleading reports.

The bill was being jointly prepared by his ministry, the press council, and the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.

Syamsul's ministry was established only after President Megawati Soekarnoputri came to power in July this year. The setting up of the ministry was met with fierce public criticism, especially from the press, for fear that it would be used as a tool to curtail press freedom.

The Ministry of Information, which emasculated the press for 30 years under Soeharto's repressive regime, was dissolved by former president Abdurrahman Wahid in 1999.

Syamsul said the police would be tasked with bringing publications to book if they violated the law.

Touching on the broadcasting bill, Syamsul said that his ministry was currently preparing the draft law and would soon submit it for deliberation to the House.

During the hearing, several legislators raised concerns over certain publications that were in the habit of printing unsavory reports and pictures. Others demanded that the minister improve the performance of TVRI state television and RRI state radio.

TVRI Director Sumita Tobing confirmed that the State Ministry for State Enterprises had agreed to audit the ailing TVRI.

"Only after TVRI has been audited can we decide on our next steps," she said.

Under her leadership, she said, TVRI would become a global player and would provide more relevant information for people across the country.