Press activists appeal rejected
Press activists appeal rejected
JAKARTA (JP): The Supreme Court has rejected the appeals of four press freedom activists convicted of insulting and sowing hatred against the government.
It upheld the sentences handed down last year by the lower court for Ahmad Taufik, Eko Maryadi, Danang Kukuh Wardoyo and Tri Agus S. Siswomihardjo.
Taufik, Eko and Danang are activists in the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) while Tri Agus is the editor of the hard-hitting Kabar dari Pijar (News from Pijar) bulletin.
The Supreme Court's Director for General Crimes, judge Sujatmi Soedarmoko, said yesterday that the appeal was handled by a team of senior judges presided over by Chief Justice Soerjono last week.
"The sentences of Taufik and Eko, three years imprisonment each, Danang, 20 months, and Tri Agus two years will not be changed," she told The Jakarta Post.
At the Central Jakarta District Court, Taufik, 30, and Eko, 28, were sentenced to 32 months imprisonment each on Sept. 2 for sowing hatred against the government through the unlicensed Independen bulletin, which they published and distributed.
The Jakarta High Court last October rejected appeals of the three AJI activists and increased the sentences of Taufik and Eko to three years imprisonment each, but maintained the sentence of Danang. The three also appealed the High Court's decisions.
Under the existing regulations, all publications are required to have publishing licenses issued by the Ministry of Information.
The magazine, published by AJI, contains articles critical of the government. Taufik, AJI's former chief, and Eko, a member, were contributors.
The alliance was founded by a group of young journalists last year in the wake of the government's decision to revoke the licenses of three weekly magazines: Tempo, DeTik and Editor in June 1994.
The government has declared AJI to be an illegal organization, insisting that the law only recognizes one umbrella group for journalists -- the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI).
Danang, an office boy at the AJI secretariat, was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment by the same court a week earlier for his role in helping distribute copies of the Independen to the public.
Tri Agus also was sentenced by the Central Jakarta District Court on Sept. 12 to two years imprisonment for insulting President Soeharto in a June 1994 edition of the Kabar dari Pijar bulletin.
He was convicted under article 134 of the Criminal Code, which carries a maximum sentence of six years imprisonment.
The Jakarta High Court rejected his appeal and upheld the sentence by the lower court.
Both Taufik and Eko said they would ask for a review of the Supreme Court's decision, while Tri Agus and Danang have asked for time to consider the decisions. (imn)