Standing on the frontline for press freedom

Standing on the frontline for press freedom

Fikri Jufri, Senior journalist, Member,
Board of Directors of PT Bina Media Tenggara

As The Jakarta Post celebrates its 20th anniversary today,
Indonesia is no longer gripped by the euphoria of reform that
fired up reformists' emotions to topple Soeharto from his 32-year
rule. Now that their hopes have been shattered, many reformists
have had to suffer despondency and bitterness in a state of
helplessness.

Soeharto is no longer in power, but his New Order regime and
its followers are still powerful and armed with a myriad of
wealth. Worse still, one of the regime's victims - the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) - has announced that it will
work closely with the regime's Golkar Party in the general
election next year, despite the fact that Golkar was the
oppressor of PDI-P.

Far from bringing dishonest bankers to justice, the
authorities and law enforcement agencies even let the culprits
travel abroad.

Akbar Tandjung, convicted for embezzling non-budgetary funds
from the State Logistics Agency, still appears shamelessly at
many state occasions and firmly holds onto the chairmanship of
the House of Representatives (DPR).

Other corruption cases in the DPR have gone unsolved. M.A.
Rachman, who failed to report his ownership of a Rp 1.8 billion
mansion to the wealth audit commission, a violation of the law,
remains attorney general.

Meanwhile, hardliners in the Indonesian military have
maneuvered themselves into a powerful political position after
they were sidelined in the early years of Indonesia's reform.
Likewise, the Indonesian police, who were highly expected to help
establish civilian governance, have become more and more
militaristic.

In some areas where conflicts pervade, like Papua and Aceh,
military presence has been expanded by readopting the so-called
"crush" and wipe out" principle.

As the invisible hands of evil have destroyed the foundation
of law enforcement and the judicial system, it is the Indonesian
press - along with university students who take to the streets to
protest social injustice - that can still play a role in building
the pillars of democracy.

They continue to declare war against corruption, collusion and
nepotism (KKN), arbitrary deprivation of people's rights and
legal redress, violence and violations of human rights as well as
thuggery, irregularities and human exploitation. It is true that
there are some news reporters who can be bribed, but it is also
true to say that there are more - in fact many more --
journalists who detest and reject this practice of bribery, known
locally as the "envelope culture".

Sad to say that at a time when the Indonesian press is making
an effort to keep to the reform track, the Tempo newsweekly was
attacked by around 200 people allegedly hired by Tomy Winata, the
tycoon of a large business enterprise. Chanting insults and
beating Tempo journalists, the attackers said that they objected
to a report about the devastating fire at Tanah Abang Market in
Central Jakarta, and the planned renovation of what is believed
to be the biggest textile and garment trading center in Southeast
Asia.

Although the report was balanced and covers both sides, Tomy
has chosen to take the case to court. In fact, he could have
settled the dispute by exercising his rights for clarification,
which is in line with prevailing laws, rather than filing a
lawsuit.

At the time of writing, two Tempo journalists, Bambang
Harymurti and Ahmad Taufik, the victims of the brutal beating and
insults, had been named defendants while assailant David, alias A
Miauw, who was earlier detained in police custody, now has
nothing more to deal with than house arrest.

Such attacks on media offices and journalists are nothing
unusual in this so-called reform era. The office of the Batam Pos
was ransacked by an unknown group, a photojournalist of the
Pikiran Rakyat daily in Bandung was mobbed and a cameraman of TV7
was beaten by a group of security and public order officials.

According to data from the Alliance of Independent Journalists
(AJI), there have been at least 65 cases of harassment against
members of the local press over the past year.

In August 2002, Humanika, a humanitarian institution in
Jakarta, was attacked by a mob allegedly to be the henchmen of
Tomy Winata, who has denied the allegation. It happened after
Humanika's circulars contained an article titled Tomy Winata
Gembong Judi dan Ekstasi (Tomy Winata, the Gambling Kingpin and
Drug Lord). Also in July last year, 20 people claiming to be
members of a local student press forum staged a protest at the
office of Forum Keadilan news magazine because of its coverage of
Tommy Winata's alleged involvement in drug trafficking in its
July 14, 2002 edition.

Do all those incidents concern The Jakarta Post? Obviously
they do, considering that the Post, along with a number of other
media, is on the frontline with Tempo in defending the rights of
the people and democracy. This explains why the Post was the
first among the local media to defend Tempo when it was attacked
by Tomy Winata's henchmen. The Post ran the story as headline
news and denounced the practice of thuggery in solving any issue
arising from media coverage.

Since it began publication 20 years ago, the Post continually
championed democracy and the people's rights. This policy has, in
its own right, become its selling point because in carrying out
its mission, the Post has had the advantage over other local
newspapers in that it is an English-language daily.

It so happened that Ali Moertopo, then information minister
and one of Soeharto's most trusted aides, did not object to the
publication of a third English-language newspaper in Indonesia in
1983. He even helped a great deal in smoothing the process of the
issuance of the Post's publication permit and license.

Later, when Harmoko became information minister, the ministry
was not wary of the Post's critical reports of the New Order
government and establishment. Seemingly the ministry's reading
teams were reluctant to scrutinize reports in the Post as they
would be kept busy repeatedly looking up words in the dictionary
to understand the wide coverage of the newspaper.

Now that the Indonesian press has earned its freedom, many
local media, aside from the Post, also publish critical news
reports, thereby bringing about the possibility that a number of
English-language readers will turn to Indonesian-language
publications. Another possibility is that those who used to buy
the Post from the newsstand will no longer miss its insight by
not reading it.

It stands to reason that the Post has to map out a new
strategy, ideally and commercially, to cope with the problems of
its depleting market share. While maintaining its position as the
champion of democracy, the Post cannot help but become wiser and
keener in its news selection and presentation of articles that
are of interest to both foreign and local readers, comprising
intellectuals and university students.

Feature articles on the variety of unique Indonesian cultures
have to be written in profound and colorful ways so as to instill
something lasting in the mind of its readers, regardless of
whether they are locals or expatriates.

Printing biting but constructive criticism on vested interests
is not easy. It is true that official warnings and threats (like
what was done by the now defunct ministry of information) are no
longer issued. But the threats still loom large given the fact
that not only the old political elite has joined up with the new
one, as in the case of the Golkar Party and the PDI-P, but also
their collaboration with interest groups from the military as
well as thugs.

Given what happened to Tempo and the other media, I suspect
that the vested interests, including those often criticized by
the media, are continually building up their arsenals.

All said, I believe that violence against the local press will
continue to happen, singly or simultaneously, covertly or openly.
Hence the Indonesian press should consolidate to face all the
challenges, not only among fellow journalists, but also with
other supporters of democracy. And I am fully convinced that the
Post will continue to stand on the frontline.