Press freedom in Aceh in danger
Press freedom in Aceh in danger
BANDA ACEH (JP): The Acehnese have lost one more element of
their liberty, the freedom of the press, following the enforced
suspension of the province's only daily, Serambi Indonesia, and
the holding as hostage three crew from state television TVRI by
the separatists.
Some parties in Aceh and members of the media slam such an
infringement of press freedom, saying that it will only reduce
sympathy for the separatist movement in Aceh.
Chairman of the Aceh branch of the Alliance of Independent
Journalists (AJI) Nazamuddin Arbi pointed out that the paper's
enforced absence meant another infringement of human rights in
Aceh.
"It is the right of society to get information from all
sources. The public can judge freely what is right. They should
not be forced to do so," he added.
Similar concern was voiced by Iskandar Jamil, head of the
information screening office at the Aceh governor's office.
"We have difficulty in absorbing aspirations from all segments
of the Aceh society, as critical voices of the local people are
no longer included in the paper," Iskandar said.
Meanwhile, Alfian Lukman, president of the student executive
board of Ar-Raniry State Institute of Islamic Studies in Banda
Aceh, said the students in fact did not want the suspension of
any publication but stressed that "the press should be unbiased
because any imbalanced reporting will run such a risk."
Serambi stopped publication from August 11, allegedly due to
continuing pressure from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist
group.
The group has also held hostage three TVRI crew members for a
few weeks in an apparent attempt to exert force on the local mass
media. The group claimed that it had "detained" the three.
On the suspension of Serambi, Amri Abdul Wahab, a senior GAM
"war commander", said that his party had objected to its "biased
reports," especially the one about the murder of scores of people
at Bumi Flora estates.
"The report created the impression that GAM had been the
culprit, whereas the facts proved the reverse," he said.
He demanded that the paper produce fair and independent
reporting by presenting the facts. "Otherwise, it's better to
stop publication altogether so as not to harm the public interest
through distorted news."
In Jakarta, Press Council chairman Atmakusumah Astraatmadja
and AJI chairman Lukas Luwarso made a joint appeal that all
parties involved in the Aceh conflict should respect the press.
Atmakusumah even urged all media in the country to boycott
parties that refused to respect the role of journalists in
reporting the facts as they found them during field assignments.
"The public will assess what's right or wrong. I know the
credibility of Serambi, as it has tried to present balanced
reports," he claimed.
Meanwhile, State Minister of Communications and Information
Syamsul Mu'arif said the government would help the daily to
resume publication.
"I'm going to Banda Aceh on Monday or Tuesday to find ways of
reviving the paper," Syamsul said last weekend.
He added the government had no other choice than to intervene
in this issue because the state policy guidelines obliged it to
protect press freedom in the country.
In fact, most Acehnese have come to rely on Serambi, the
province's only comprehensive paper established by Jakarta-based
Kompas daily in the 1980s.
The enforced absence of Serambi has also affected social
workers in war-torn Aceh and also the people who rely, for their
income, on selling the newspaper.
Indonesian Red Cross volunteer Soni Octavianus revealed that
in the past week, nobody had claimed the unidentified corpses
evacuated to hospitals due to lack of news reports, such that
they had to be buried without relatives being informed.
A Serambi agent in Pidie regency, Mohd. Roem Daoed, who used
to sell 120 copies daily, complained on Sunday that he had lost
Rp 50,000 (US$5.80) in daily income from distributing the
newspaper.
"Hundreds of other agents have also lost their jobs since the
suspension," he said. (50/02/dja)