Indonesia 'does not forbid' foreign journalists

Indonesia 'does not forbid' foreign journalists

JAKARTA (JP): Overseas-based journalists may have to ask for
approval from security authorities to enter Indonesia's strife-
torn areas of Aceh, Maluku and Irian Jaya, Minister of Foreign
Affairs Alwi Shihab said.

However, Alwi was quick to add that the policy remained a
proposal and was not aimed to restrict foreign journalists from
gathering news in the three violence-prone territories.

"It's for the sake of their own safety that they should obtain
permission from the local authority to cover news there," Alwi
told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

He said the procedure which requires overseas-based
journalists to register with the security authorities was needed
because on numerous occasions in the past the government had been
blamed for incidents involving media workers.

Alwi said no decision had been made by the government on the
proposal as it surfaced during a discussion between political and
security affairs ministers recently.

He asserted that if approved, the policy would not affect
representatives of the foreign media in Indonesia.

"The regulation would apply only to those who do not live in
the country. It probably won't affect Indonesian citizens who
work for foreign press agencies or newspapers," Alwi said.

Irian Jaya, also known as Papua, and Aceh are home to
separatist rebels, while the Malukus have been racked by a
Christian-Muslim war since January, 1999. Thousands have been
killed in violence in these areas, which have intensified since
the fall of former president Soeharto in 1998.

A press statement released by the ministry last week quoted
its spokesman as saying that foreign journalists were advised to
acquire a letter of recommendation from the ministry, otherwise
they run the risk of being returned to Jakarta if discovered by
the police.

The Foreign Correspondents Club could not be reached for
comment, but a source close to the association said foreign
journalists had sought a meeting with President Abdurrahman Wahid
regarding the proposed regulation.

Secretary-general of the Association of Independent
Journalists (AJI) Didi Supriyanto lashed out at the proposal,
accusing it of lacking common sense.

"Those who are involved journalistic work in strife-torn areas
represent people who wish to know what's really going on out
there and who have the right to information," Didi told the Post.

He said people who took up journalism as their profession
naturally understood the risks involved.

"The government should not use security reasons to forbid any
journalist bound for restive areas. That's part of their job," he
said.

He described the policy as "a bad precedence" of government
control over the press.

"The current government is following the footsteps of
Soeharto's New Order regime. It must have something to conceal,"
he said.

AJI, he said, would lodge an official protest to the
government for what it termed a "violation of public rights,
press freedom and the 1945 Constitution". (dja/sur)