Local daily a victim of E. Timor conflict

Local daily a victim of E. Timor conflict

By Ati Nurbaiti

DILI, East Timor (JP): Trucks jam-packed with men wearing red
and white bandannas passed a hotel here at noon on Saturday, some
of them waving to a reporter on the hotel terrace.

"Hey, where are you going?' asked the reporter, waving back.

"Back home!" cried the men. Suddenly without warning, men
jumped down from their trucks, in front of the reporter's office,
adjacent to the hotel, brandishing an assortment of rifles and
poles.

The reporter was rigid, realizing what was in store. Seconds
later, he scurried indoors, warning colleagues against taking
pictures up close.

The crowd entered the Suara Timor Timur (STT) office, the
first and only local paper primarily catering to the province's
population of 800,000.

The sound of shattered glass and angry cries filled the air,
together with gunfire warning journalists from venturing closer.

More glass was broken and by the time the men left, computers,
printing equipment, furniture, papers and files had been
vandalized.

Police came too late, but said they had managed to stop the
old building from being set on fire.

Two office boys were found hiding under a table in the dark
room. It was a holiday and other employees escaped the terror.

The reporter who had waved to the men reflected that however
familiar he was to them and to local authorities, his safety was
not guaranteed. The press have been reporting on activities of
prointegration militia groups, and clearly the groups were not
happy.

Managing editor Aderito Hugo da Costa was not entirely
shocked. Reporters and management appeared disgusted by the
incident as, only a few days earlier, an influential figure had
given his word that both foreign and local journalists would not
be harmed in any chaos.

"This is the third attack," Hugo said.

In 1994, a journalist was beaten up and fled East Timor in
fear of his life. In 1995, the office was attacked and a car was
set on fire. This time, the office was destroyed. A number of
journalists, including Hugo, have received death threats. Some
employees have left the province.

Threats and mounting pressure have become daily fare for the
newspaper's staff, ever since the daily began operating in 1993.
Imagine running the only newspaper in the middle of warring
groups all wanting their own say, none of whom will settle for
the Letter to the Editors column.

The newspaper incessantly tells the community that not all
their activities and views can be published all the time.

A print run of 7,500 papers, priced at Rp 1,000 each (US 11
cents) is sold out daily.

Since the attack on the newspaper office, Roberto, a telephone
operator, has had to be satisfied with reading the tabloids while
STT is temporarily closed.

"I like STT, I've been buying and reading it for years. It
also has news from the villages, and I know what's happening in
places where my relatives are," he said.

The paper has been labeled antigovernment and identified as
the "town's wild disturbance group" for its allegedly
proindependence viewpoint. On countless occasions,
recommendations to close the paper based on these charges have
been made by local authorities and local legislators, Hugo said.

Recommendations to shut down the paper have not materialized
because "the political elite would say without a local paper
(reporting on East Timor by) the foreign press would prevail, and
besides questions would arise as to what was happening if the
only paper was closed," Hugo said.

Suara Timor Timur was first published as a weekly in 1986 by
the Tatoli Naroman Foundation. Financial constraints almost led
to its collapse. But management assistance from the Kompas
national daily helped the tabloid-size paper grow, from a
circulation of 2,000 to 7,500 -- until last Saturday.

"After this, we predict that sympathy and support could lead
to a much higher circulation, this is an extraordinary
promotion," Hugo said. He was in the shirt he wore on Saturday --
threats and ongoing unrest forced him to book a room at the
hotel.

While at times pressure can lead to pride in the importance of
the profession, Hugo says writers in the province write few
analytical pieces, valuing their lives more than the journalism.

"The pressure hampers the growth of creativity."

In 1993, the paper became a daily in the wake of the trial of
independence fighter Alexandre Jose "Xanana" Gusmao. Hostile
response to the paper began as stories appeared during the trial,
in which Xanana lashed out against the authorities.

The East Timor public was astounded. Though the paper only
reported on the trial's proceeding, its stories were considered
blasphemous, mainly by those in power. A story on a diarrhea
epidemic in Ermera regency in 1995, in which many died, drew ire,
with authorities saying the daily was tarnishing the
international image of East Timor.

Cover-up

The publication of STT challenged the "culture of lies, of
always covering up things," Hugo said.

Under the "politics of integration", it was normal for the
public to accept statements uncritically from the lowest to the
highest authorities. "When a person is shot, we are accustomed to
believe that he is still alive."

Torture and murders were discussed only in private.

The reform movement, Hugo says, "has brought on even bigger
problems". Demands for a referendum increased and coverage
largely focused on the activities of proindependence groups,
while prointegration groups lay low.

In the past six months, the paper has increasingly been
labeled one-sided.

Representative of the National Commission on Human Rights in
East Timor Florentino Sarmento, says statements by
proindependence leaders which are considered misleading, bewilder
prointegration groups "who have hardly any access to coverage".

This in part may explain the current attacks against the
media.

A number of observers also say STT is one-sided favoring
proindependence. Hugo denies the suggestion, saying "we give
opportunities to all sides, because we don't want further
division when there are already sharp differences".

Management from Suara Timor Timur say the daily will hit the
streets again in early May, with financial support from the Asia
Foundation and the Ford Foundation.

For the time being, reporters hang about the office, while a
few are involved with other papers, including the foreign media.

Hugo says such activities are condoned, not only because the
average salary is Rp 300,000 per month, but because "Affiliation
with other media brings a little bit of respect from others",
adding clout to the precarious existence of journalists in this
province.