KPWI pledges to protect Indonesian journalists
JAKARTA (JP): A body set up to protect Indonesian journalists pledged on Saturday that it would help its members to take legal action if they were mistreated or abused.
"We want the public and the state to respect journalists. During the New Order era, the press was heavily censored...and the law automatically sided with the ruler's interests," Haris Jauhari, chairman of the Protection Committee for Indonesian Journalists (KPWI), said.
Haris, a journalist with the private TPI television station and chairman of the Indonesian Television Journalists Association, was addressing a symposium on protection for journalists.
"Legal action is a good option. This committee will support journalists who are willing to settle problems through the courts," he said.
He said it was important to promote the use of the courts to settle disputes. Until recently, journalists' associations have been powerless to take action when journalists were abused or victimized, either by their employers, or by the authorities.
On Nov. 11 last year, three photographers covering clashes between security personnel and student protesters on Jl. Imam Bonjol in Central Jakarta were beaten up by soldiers.
Following a demonstration by 200 journalists covering the Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly, the Armed Forces leadership apologized and ordered an investigation into the incident.
More journalists were assaulted while covering the events of Black Friday at the Semanggi cloverleaf on Nov. 13.
The committee was established on Nov. 15.
While some wanted the committee to focus on eliminating the physical abuse of journalists, others argued that it was also important to provide press workers with legal advice and support.
August Parengkuan, a senior journalist who sits on the board of the committee, said the major threat facing the media today was from extremist groups in society, not from the government abusing its power, as once was the case.
"Nowadays, the threat comes from certain groups which are trying to force their way into the press in the name of democracy," August said.
"We have to build awareness so that people see they should channel their aspirations using more elegant and effective means. There is a code of ethics which must be followed," he noted.
Commenting on a recent announcement that the Ministry of Information and the National Police would cooperate closely to deal with crime in the media, August noted that it was a natural consequence of relaxing controls on the press and simplifying the procedure to obtain a publishing license.
Hundreds of new publications have sprung up around the country since the government adopted a more lenient attitude toward the press after former president Soeharto's downfall in May last year. (edt)