Plan to ban press coverage slammed

Plan to ban press coverage slammed

JAKARTA: State Minister of Communications and Information
Syamsul Mu'arif slammed on Wednesday plans by the Jakarta High
Court to ban reporters from covering trials, calling it baseless.

Syamsul said he might tolerate a ruling to limit the number of
reporters covering a trial but not a complete ban. "I think it's
baseless," he said after attending the trial on House Speaker
Akbar Tandjung.

He was commenting on plans by the head of the Jakarta High
Court, Ridwan Nasution, to dismiss reporters from court rooms.

According to Ridwan, judges felt under pressure over what they
charge were trials by the press.

However chairman of the Indonesian Press Council Atmakusumah
Astraatmadja criticized the plan as a violation of press freedom.
-- Antara

'Bung Karno reincarnation' forms party

YOGYAKARTA: A man who thinks he is the reincarnation of first
president Soekarno or Bung Karno, set up his own political party
on Wednesday in a bid to join the 2004 general election.

Mohammad Arief Koesno, 62, declared the establishment of the
Indonesian National Unity and Fusion Party (PPPKBI) in Yogyakarta
in an event that attracted thousands from East and Central Java.
No government officials were present.

Arief Koesno wore Soekarno's trademark black cap, his sunglasses
and the commando stick while he addressed his supporters with the
same vigor which had made Soekarno a famous orator.

"We want to create the lighthouse for the world just as
Soekarno dreamed of: "The Emerging Forces" or the new world. This
we must create," he told a cheering crowd.

Arief Koesno, known to his followers as Romo Yoso, said he was
ready to become Indonesia's president and would like to lead the
world. -- JP