Reflections on the Human Condition - Api-fellowships.org

418 SESSION VI
Table 3: Indonesian mass media and punishment specified in the Criminal Code.
Journalists jailed in Indonesia (1991-2005)
Date Name Media Case Verdict
4 May 2005
Darwin Ruslinur & Budiono
Saputro
Koridor
22 Dec.2004 Risang Bima Wijaya Radar Jogja
23 Sept. 2003 Karim Paputungan
Rakyat
Merdeka
Ref lections on the Human Condition: Change, Conflict and Modernity
The Work of the 2004/2005 API Fellows
Reports on alleged embezziement by
Lampung’s Golkar Party
Reports on alleged sexual harassment by
Soemadi M. Wonohito, general manager of
Yogyakarta’s Kedaulatan Rakyat daily
Published caricatures of House of
Representatives speaker Akbar Tandjung and
president Megawati Soekarnoputri
9 Months
9 months
5 months
23 Sept. 2003 Supratman Rakyat Merdeka As above 6 months
8 June 2000 N. Riantiarno Matra Published erotic photos 5 months
18 April 1991 Arswendo Atmowiloto Monitor
Popularity poll which ranked Prophet
Muhammad as number 11
5 years
(From: the Jakarta Post, May 6, 2005, p. 1.)
Creative media network
Before 1998, media groups that had different idea
from the current media groups—and that have now
become the alternative media or watchdog media
organizations—were born in central Jakarta, like the
Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), and Utan
Kayu Community. Afterwards, these groups expanded
to the provinces and the numbers of such alternative
media increased.
AJI Jakarta was founded in the year 1994. At that time,
three weekly magazines—Tempo, DeTik and Editor
were closed. The Indonesian Journalist Association
(PWI) was controlled by the Government and did
not take any responsibility for protesting that the
Government had destroyed the freedom of press. Some
members were dissatisfied and withdrew from PWI to
found the AJI as an alternative media organization. The
Indonesian Government has never accepted AJI as a legal
organization. Its members have to work underground.
Their first work was to fight for freedom of the press.
AJI declared six tasks for itself: first, to reject all kinds
of intervention, intimidation, censorship, and closure
against the press that deny freedom of expression and
citizens’ right to access information; second, to reject all
efforts to obscure the spirit of the Indonesian press as
a struggling press; third, to reject the forcing of onesided
information for individual and group interests
in the name of the national interest; fourth, to reject
the deviation of legal products that is not in line with
Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution; fifth, to reject a
single institution of the journalism profession; sixth, to
proclaim the establishment of the AJI as a institution
struggling for the Indonesia press.
At that time, there were alliances that joined together
to fight for press freedom in other provinces too, such
as the Forum of Independent Journalists Initiative
(FOWI) Bandung, the Discussion Forum of Yogyakarta
Journalist (FDWY), the Surabaya Press Club (SPC), and
the Solidarity of Independent Journalists (SJI) Jakarta.
After the Indonesian media obtained freedom and
liberty, the current task of AJI is to protect journalists
from all kinds of violence, particularly in areas where
there is severe conflict, such as Aceh and Papua. There
are quite a lot of conflict areas in Indonesia where the
work of reporters is risky, with danger from all sides—
separatists, military and the Government. In 1998,
there were 42 cases of reporters who had their rights
violated, and there were 74 cases in 1999, 115 cases in
2000, 95 cases in 2001, 70 cases in 2002 and 59 cases
in 2003. Now, AJI has 21 linked organizations from all
over Indonesia.
KIPPAS (Sumatran Foundation for the Study of
Education Information and Publication)
KIPPAS was founded in Medan, North Sumatra, by
progressive activists in Medan and North Sumatra
in 1999. They saw problems within the media circle
in North Sumatra. A large number of media outlets
sprang up following Suharto’s downfall and the media
obtained more freedom. However, during that time,
both politicians and businessmen founded newspapers
that lacked quality and this simply discredited the
media circle. Some newspapers just gave a press card
to the reporters but did not pay any salary or perhaps
just paid a low salary; the reporters could then use the
press cards to ask for rewards from their information
sources. Besides this, there was a problem in developing
the professionalism of reporters, with the newspapers’