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)