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