Ministry denies banning latest 'Readers' Digest'
Ministry denies banning latest 'Readers' Digest'
JAKARTA (JP): The government denied yesterday it had barred
local newsstands from selling the latest edition of Reader's
Digest, which alleges widespread human rights violations in East
Timor.
"There has been no ban imposed at all," according to Indrawadi
Tamin, the public relations director of the Ministry of
Information.
"If there has been a reduction in the magazine's distribution
here, it's probably because of the distributor's own policy. But
it has nothing to do with the ministry," Indrawadi told The
Jakarta Post yesterday.
He backed up his statement by showing a copy of a letter from
the magazine's sole agent here, N.V. Indoprom, which explained
that it decided to limit the magazine's distribution because of
financial difficulties.
Signed by Soekanto Ariroen and dated March 22, the letter was
actually a response to written questions about the reported
banning from Gatra magazine.
"There has been no banning from the Indonesian government,"
the letter said, adding that Indoprom decided to limit
distribution because of a problem concerning its Letter of Credit
with its bank.
"We limit the distribution to subscribers, especially those
who have already paid us," it said.
The ministry's statement contradicted an earlier one by the
Attorney General's Office. Spokesman Pontas Pasaribu told the
Post last week that he had been informed of the ban by the
Ministry of Information.
Pasaribu, however, had declined to say why the government
slapped a ban on this month's issue of the magazine, which has a
circulation of 12,000, including 2,353 subscriptions, in
Indonesia.
The magazine's March edition featured East Timor Roman
Catholic Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo who alleged that
violations of human rights in the former Portuguese colony are
widespread.
Titled Hero for a Forgotten People, the six-page story written
by Paul Raffaele alleges that the East Timorese people have been
"stalked by terror" ever since the territory became part of
Indonesia in 1976."
Last week the public relations manager for the Asian edition
of the Reader's Digest, J. Elizabeth Dingwall, told the Post that
Indoprom had informed her office of the "limited" ban.
The agent also distributes prestigious publications such as
The International Herald Tribune and Far Eastern Economic Review.
Yesterday, Indrawadi also announced that the ministry had
issued new publishing licenses for two print media, Tajuk and
Kontan.
Tajuk is a monthly magazine managed by an association of 1945
freedom fighters. It is led by Soerono, former Coordinating
Minister for People's Welfare.
Kontan (meaning "cash") belongs to the giant Gramedia group.
It is an economic weekly tabloid, Indrawadi said. (01)