Press protesters warned to stay off the streets
JAKARTA (JP): Police yesterday vowed to crack down hard on new street demonstrations as the nation took a respite following days of protests and counter protests over the government's ban against three news weeklies.
"We'll stop them again the same way," Jakarta Police Chief Maj. Gen. Moch. Hindarto told reporters yesterday, referring to the clamp down on protesters on Monday which left several people injured and led to the arrests of dozens of people.
"If they want a contest of power, they'll have it."
Hindarto said police had to resort to the use of force to quell two demonstrations on Monday because they were illegal. "Any demonstration must have the police permit beforehand."
The Jakarta Police chief was present at the time his force moved to quell the demonstration and made the arrests on Monday.
Goenawan Mohamad, the director of Tempo, one of the three banned magazines, responded to Hindarto's threat last night saying that protesters would have no chance against the police.
"If it comes to a contest of force, we'll lose. How can we win?" Goenawan said.
The other two magazines that lost their publishing licenses were DeTIK and Editor.
Meanwhile, the Central Jakarta District Court yesterday held speedy trials for 21 people, including vocal poet W.S. Rendra, who were taken into custody at two separate demonstrations on Monday.
One teenager was acquitted and the other 20 were fined Rp 2,000 (less than $1) each or face five days imprisonment after the court found them guilty of creating a public disturbance.
Rendra and the seven members of his Bengkel (workshop) Teater group decided to accept the verdict and pay the fines but not before insisting on making a little speech.
"What I wanted to say was that the government's move to revoke the licenses of the three magazines without upholding legal procedures is dangerous because the laws have not been upheld," Rendra said in the trial, justifying his presence at the demonstration.
Later he told journalists before leaving the court building that he had no qualms with the trial. "It's good. I enjoyed popular support for my cause and even the judge saw it as something positive."
The other twelve protesters, mostly activists and students, said they were appealing the guilty verdicts in the higher court. They were released but might have to serve four days in jail if the high court upholds the verdict.
"The court proceeding is the greatest joke of the year," said Luhut Pangaribuan, one of lawyers from the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) who represented the defendants.
Police however still detained vocal activist Beathor Suryadi of the Pijar Foundation and he now faces more serious charges as he had breached the term of his conditional release.
Police sources said that Beathor could be charged with producing provocative leaflets.
Beathor, whom his colleagues said was injured in the scuffle with police on Monday, was still under probation after his release from jail last year. He was also serving time for distributing leaflets to discredit President Soeharto.
Losses
The only demonstration of the press ban yesterday took place in front of the National Commission on Human Rights when some 35 newspaper sellers and news agents turned up along with journalists of the three banned magazines.
They said the weeklies, particularly DeTIK which had the largest circulation of 450,000, had been their prime source of income and the government bans would mean substantial losses in earnings.
The demonstration was joined by a number of workers of shoe factories in Tangerang and Bekasi, who turned up to express their disappointment at the ban since the three magazines had given extensive coverage about labor problems in the country.
The Association of Indonesian Journalists (PWI) yesterday expressed concern that the growing street protests would only muddle rather than solve the problem.
In a statement signed by deputy chairman Tribuana Said and Secretary General Parni Hadi, PWI called on its members to use the organization to solve the problem.
The Association of Catholic Students (PMKRI) yesterday sent its representatives to the House of Representatives to express their disappointment at the ban.
At the YLBHI, about 30 journalists and activists from various non-governmental organizations pledged to continue their push for freedom of the press. (pan/11/bsr/arf)