Publishing state secrets?

Publishing state secrets?

From Rakyat Merdeka

The Nov. 25-Dec. 1, 2002 edition of Tempo totally unveils the findings of Indonesia's intelligence personnel, especially those working for the State Intelligence Agency (BIN).

This magazine exposes the telephone interception tracking of Al Faruq, BIN's report book and the picture of a house it claims is a BIN agent's residence in the Bandung area. So far BIN has made no denial, except for Tempo's interview with Muchyar Yara, assistant to BIN's chief spokesman.

BIN may deem it unnecessary to respond to the controversial Tempo report to avoid any negative effect on society. As a citizen with no particular knowledge of journalism and intelligence, I personally share the attitude shown by BIN.

The question is now: Has Tempo done the right thing by completely revealing what the intelligence agency has discovered and achieved?

The answer is no. Whatever forms of operation conducted by the agency and whatever results arise from them, belong to the category of classified information and can only be published at least 30 years after the cases emerge. In other words, Tempo has violated the code of ethics of Indonesian journalists.

NURHADI SUBIJANTO, Sydney, Australia