'Independen' did circulate in public, court told

'Independen' did circulate in public, court told

JAKARTA (JP): The Independen magazine published by the
Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) was circulating among
the general public without a proper government permit, witnesses
testified at the trials of three alliance members this week.

Two police officers, and a hotel waiter told the Central
Jakarta court in separate testimony that they saw, or knew, that
copies of Independen were being offered to the general public.

Sgt. Utomo Ramlan, an undercover officer, said on Thursday
that he even subscribed to the journal by filling in a
subscription form.

During the trial of Danang Kukuh Wardoyo, an AJI clerk, Utomo
said he had received a receipt, which was later turned over to
the prosecutors, for three editions of the magazine.

However, when the judge asked to see the receipt, the state
prosecutors could not produce it.

Utomo said he subscribed to Independen in order to accumulate
evidence that the magazine was indeed made available to the
general public by its publishers.

Danang, Ahmad Taufik and Eko Maryadi are being tried on
charges of sowing hatred against the government by distributing
Independen, which is highly critical of the government. If found
guilty, they face a maximum of seven years imprisonment.

Ahmad and Eko, who are being tried jointly, are journalists of
the now banned Tempo weekly news magazine.

The three are members of AJI, which was founded last year to
group journalists discontented at the lack of action by the
Association of Indonesian Journalists in defense of the displaced
journalists of Tempo and two other magazines that were closed
last year.

The government has refused to recognize the alliance, citing
that a 1985 law permits only one organization to represent each
profession.

The three men were arrested during and after an AJI reception
at Wisata International Hotel in Jakarta in March. According to
the prosecutors, the magazines were distributed at the reception.

Abdulrahman Jamaludin, a Wisata waiter, testified on Thursday
that he saw Danang giving out copies of the magazine to the
guests. "I did not see any money being given to Danang," he told
the court.

This last remark contradicted an earlier statement the waiter
gave to the police in which he said that the magazine was sold to
some guests at the reception.

On Wednesday, Sgt. Utomo and another police officer, Supriadi,
testified for the prosecutors in the trial of Ahmad and Eko.

They supported the accusation that the magazine was available
to the public in violation of the press publication regulations.

Supriadi was one of the arresting officers at the Wisata
Hotel.

Both men said they formed a team to catch the people behind
the publication of the magazine following a tip from the Ministry
of Information, the government agency which issues press
publishing permits.

They also identified equipment, including a personal computer
and some sign boards, presented by the prosecutors in court, as
the objects they confiscated from AJI's secretariat during a raid
in March.

They said they had read articles in the magazine which they
believed were so inflammatory that they could cause instability
nationwide. (06/03)