'Pelita' reprimanded over virginity articles

JAKARTA (JP): The honorary council of Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI) has strongly reprimanded the Islamic-oriented Pelita daily, whose articles alleging that 96 percent of the female high school students in South Sulawesi regency of Tana Toraja were no longer virgins, created an uproar and waves of protest.

The rebuke came only days after the daily was given a warning by the Ministry of Information, Antara reported yesterday.

The association said the daily violated certain articles in the Indonesian Journalists Code of Ethics which say, among other things, that journalists should not run stories or pictures which may "harm the safety and security of the country".

The code of ethics also states that Indonesian journalists should not publish materials which may create disunity, or offend the believers of faiths which are protected by the laws.

The daily published the controversial stories on April 27 and April 28, quoting religious affairs official Karimuddin, who made the allegation without any data to back it up.

Karimuddin said that many girls in the scenic Tana Toraja filled their spare time working as tourist guides, and that they slept with foreigners.

Soon after the publication, thousands of Tana Torajans held a series of demonstrations in South Sulawesi's capital of Ujungpandang and in Jakarta, demanding that Karimuddin be brought to court and Pelita be banned.

The daily's deputy chief editor, Slamet Effendy Yusuf, recently said that the journalist who wrote the story had been punished. (swe)