NGOs slam decree limiting television operating hours

NGOs slam decree limiting television operating hours

Ridwan Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A group of non-governmental organizations joined forces on Monday
to protest a ministerial decree requiring radio and television
stations to reduce their airtime as part of the government's
energy conservation drive.

Agus Sudibyo, coordinator of the Coalition for the Free Flow
of Information and the Alliance for Defenders of Chapter 28, said
Ministerial Decree No. 11/2005 reflected the government's
confusion over how to cope with the fuel crisis in the country.

"The prolonged crisis has caused the government to panic,
prompting it to formulate a strange policy that violates human
rights," Agus said.

He said the coalition of NGOs rejected the decree because it
violated Chapter 28 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom
of information.

"The decree shows that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's
government is reminiscent of former president Soeharto's
repressive New Order regime," Agus said, adding that the decree
violated Susilo's commitment to uphold press freedom.

The NGOs called on Minister of Information and Communications
Sofyan Djalil to revoke the controversial decree.

"We are seeking a meeting with the President to convey our
opposition and with House of Representatives Commission I to help
us put pressure on the government to scrap the decree," Agus
said.

The decree was issued last week to follow up on a presidential
instruction on energy conservation measures. The decree asks all
radio and television stations to sign off from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.

Live European soccer matches are excluded to honor the
contracts signed by local TV channels, as are religious programs
during the upcoming Ramadhan fasting month.

The decree is effective for six months from its issuance.

All TV and radio stations have agreed to the decree in a show
of support for the government's conservation campaign.

The Association of Indonesian Private TV Stations (ATVSI) has
said that TV stations were complying with the decree because
besides conserving energy, there were few viewers between 1 a.m.
and 5 a.m. and very little advertising revenue.

ATVSI chairman Karni Ilyas, who is also the newsroom director
of SCTV, said TV stations could save at least Rp 1 billion every
night by going off the air from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.

Hanif Suranto from the Institution for Press Studies and
Development said the decree violated freedom of expression.

Atmakusumah Astraatmadja, a former member of the Press
Council, regretted the controversial decree was issued without
consulting the Indonesian Broadcasting Council or the Press
Council.

"Limiting airtime is not only a business matter but, and
mainly, a violation of human rights. The government cannot take
such an arbitrary action even if the number of TV viewers
affected is small," he said.

The government did meet with TV station owners and management
before the decree was issued.