Will new press freedom survive?

Will new press freedom survive?

By Amir Sidharta

JAKARTA (JP): The banning of premier weeklies Tempo, Detik and
Editor in June 1994 was very frustrating because it happened just
as it seemed that the New Order was becoming more tolerant to
openness in the press.

It was clear that the pendulum had swung back in the opposite
direction and the New Order regime of the time was starting to
tighten its grip on the media once again.

Protests against the bans sprung up immediately after they
came into effect. Artists and students rallied at Taman Ismail
Marzuki art center, where most of the Australia Today Indonesia
(ATI) events were being staged. The police were sent to the
center to make sure that the protests were contained within the
art center complex.

Over the weekend, at an ATI performance held at Gedung
Kesenian Jakarta, Goenawan Mohammad appeared to explain to the
audience what had happened to Tempo. A network of activists
drafted a petition that was signed by many supporters of freedom
of the press.

On the morning of Monday, June 27, 1994, protesters gathered
on Merdeka Square opposite the Ministry of Information. As the
protesters' leaders delivered speeches to the hundreds of people
present, ranks of riot police and military lined up with thick
rattan batons in their hands.

Just as the activists were about to hold a minute's silence,
the military launched their attack, scattering the protesters to
the four corners of Merdeka Square.

The security forces seemed to know exactly who they wanted to
detain. They specifically targeted and chased the young, helpless
actors from playwright Rendra's Bengkel theater group, who ran
holding hands dressed in the garb of peasant farmers. The
military beat many activists, hitting them on their shins with
their rattan batons to temporarily disable them.

A pair of military officers nonchalantly mocked a helpless
activist by hitting him on different parts of his body. The
activists were completely overpowered by the military, even
though it was not their intention to start a riot. Ironically,
this oppression happened in Merdeka Square, the square of
freedom.

A number of activists were injured during the military's
attack on the protest. Among the casualties were painter Semsar
Siahaan, whose limbs were fractured in the melee. Journalists
were ordered to stop taking photographs and a woman shouted out,
trying to prevent the military from hitting any more people.

The military shouted back, telling the protesters to go home.
Some activists decided to stay put and were detained.

In early July, 370 Indonesian journalists issued a statement
asserting their opposition to the ban and their disappointment in
the Ministry of Information and the Association of Indonesian
Journalists.

On Aug. 7, 1994, over 50 journalists set up the Alliance of
Independent Journalists (AJI) through a declaration signed at
Sirnagalih, a mountainous village about 60 kilometers to the
south of Jakarta.

Although activists continued to fight, it soon became clear
that the battle had been lost. Less than half a year after Tempo
was banned, Gatra was formed from its ashes. However, the new
magazine never reached the heights of its much loved predecessor.
Many refused to buy or even read Gatra as a protest against the
government.

Although Judge Benjamin Mangkoedilaga ruled in Tempo's favor
in a case brought before the Jakarta Administrative Court
questioning the legitimacy of the ban, the Supreme Court
eventually took what Goenawan Mohamad called "a political route"
and ruled in the New Order government's favor.

Only a few journalists from Tempo joined Gatra. Most refused
to join the new magazine, also as an act of protest. Instead,
they dispersed to join other magazines and newspapers, such as
Forum, Media Indonesia, and later D&R, and the BBC,
among others. Others began to publish an underground circular
called Suara Independen.

Even so, intimidation of the media that employed members of
the AJI and signatories of the Sirnagalih declaration continued.
Publications were forced to either reposition AJI members in
their team of journalists to less strategic research positions or
remove them altogether. Journalists belonging to Suara Independen
were eventually captured and tried. Ahmad Taufik a journalist and
former Tempo employee was sentenced to three years in prison.

Apparently there was even an attempt to remove an AJI
journalist who joined the Jakarta Stock Exchange as a researcher.
It was clear that a vendetta against the AJI was being pursued.

Goenawan Mohamad, Tempo's chief editor, decided to return to
artistic and cultural pursuits by establishing the Galeri Lontar
and the Teater Utan Kayu. The small complex also housed the Flow
of Information Studies Institute (ISAI), a research center that
supported the publication of many books on freedom of the press.

This week, after over four dormant years, Tempo is back on the
streets. With the support of loyal journalists and new team
members, the magazine has remerged with a vein of strong
investigative reporting to complement its characteristic news
reports.

In this week's edition it features investigative reports on
the May rapes, Megawati's steps toward the presidency, and the
current state of the Indonesian Armed Forces. It also features
the writings of five prominent figures -- Benjamin Mangkoedilaga,
Emil Salim, Kartono Mohamad, Taufik Abdullah and William Liddle.
None of the above figures need any further introduction.

If there seems to have been a big campaign to promote Gatra in
the mass media in recent weeks, now we know the reason why. With
their main rival back on the block and their main patron in
troubled waters, it would be interesting to see how much longer
the magazine will be able to survive.

What effect the rebirth of Tempo will have on the media here
would be an interesting question to ask. But what is of most
interest is certainly not how Gatra or any other magazine will
deal with the reemergence of Tempo, it is something else.

It remains unclear what exactly Tempo did to deserve being
banned by the New Order.

However, it can be concluded without much doubt that it was
the result of the magazine's report on the purchase of a number
of used East German naval vessels which was brought about through
then minister of research and technology Habibie's strong ties
with Germany.

What is most interesting is how Habibie, now President, will
deal with Tempo. Will he really be the open-minded and worldly
individual he portrayed himself to be during his early days in
office?

So far, with regards to Tempo, he has acted fairly by allowing
it to resume publishing. But if Tempo once again stings him with
its sharp criticism and investigative reporting, will that herald
yet another reverse in the pendulum of press freedom?

The writer is a specialist on museums and a freelance writer.

Window: What is most interesting is how Habibie, now President,
will deal with Tempo. Will he really be the open-minded and
worldly individual he portrayed himself to be during his early
days in office?