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?