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)