'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)