TNI sets up Aceh media center

Claiming to be acting in the name of fairness and transparency, the Indonesian Military (TNI) has set up media centers in Jakarta and Aceh to supply information on the troubled province to the press.

Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin said during a press briefing Monday that the media centers would also provide security protection for journalists doing field coverage in Aceh, including if the government decided to launch a military operation to stamp out the secessionist movement in the province.

One press center would be located at TNI headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, and the other in Lhokseumawe, some 230 kilometers east of Banda Aceh.

"To ensure that field reporters collect information transparently and avoid unnecessary information distortion, which will only create uncertainty among the public, we will hold a media briefing everyday.

"The press center in Aceh will provide information on all military operations, while TNI headquarters will provide reporters with information on military policies," Sjafrie told reporters after holding a closed door meeting with chief editors from various mass media outlets at Cilangkap.

The Lhokseumawe press center will also provide facilities such as satellite technology to help the electronic media, especially television stations, in transferring footage or broadcasting live from the province.

Asked if the TNI would allow journalists to gather information from the Free Aceh Movement, which has been fighting for independence for resource-rich Aceh since 1976, Syafrie said: "Basically we acknowledge the cover-both-sides principle of the press. But we will provide services to the press that support the Unitary Republic of Indonesia only."

Sjafrie declined to describe the policy as censorship, saying: "We have no authority to censor the mass media".