H. E. Gen. Haji Mohamed Suharto
President of the Republic of Indonesia
Office of the President
Jakarta
Indonesia

Vienna, 4 September 1995

Your Excellency,

The International Press Institute (IPI), strongly condemns the sentencing on 1 September 1995 of two members of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) to prison terms of 32 months each.

We are informed that Ahmad Taufik, President of AJI and Eko Maryadi, a fellow member, were found guilty by the Central Jakarta District Court of spreading hatred against the government and publishing the Independen magazine without a license.

AJI was established as an alternative to the state-sponsored Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI) by a group of independent Indonesian journalists in August 1994, after the Ministry of Information revoked the licenses of the country’s three leading weeklies, Tempo, Detik and Editor. The journalist’s group published the news magazine, Independen, which was frequently critical of government policy.

Since its inception, AJI has faced a continued campaign of harassment and intimidation by the authorities. On 16 March 1995 Ahmad Taufik was arrested, along with Eko Maryadi and office assistant Danang Kukuh Wardyo, and formally charged with violating Article 19 of the Indonesian Press Law, which prohibits the publication of an unlicensed newspaper or magazine, and Article 154 of the Indonesian Criminal Code, which bars expression of “feelings of hostility, hatred or contempt toward the government.” On 24 August a Jakarta court sentenced Mr. Wardoyo to 20 months in prison for helping to distribute Independen.

IPI, a global network of editors and media executives from newspapers, magazines, broadcasting organisations and news agencies in 85 countries, considers the latest sentences to be yet another demonstration of the government’s determination to stifle the critical voice of AJI in particular and of the country’s independent press in general. We strongly urge Your Excellency to ensure that Ahmad Taufik and Eko Maryadi are released immediately and unconditionally and that members of AJI are allowed to “seek, receive and impart information and ideas,” as expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Johann P. Fritz
Director