New York, March 18, 2004 —The Central Jakarta District Court today ordered Tempo magazine to publicly apologize and to pay a fine of 500 million rupiah (US$59,000) in a case filed by prominent businessman Tomy Winata. “This verdict, coming on the heels of a criminal defamation suit filed by Tomy Winata, sends a chilling message…
By Ann CooperIn real-time images, the war in Iraq splashed across television screens worldwide in March, with thousands of journalists covering the U.S.-led war against Saddam Hussein and his regime. The conflict and its aftermath had a far-reaching impact on the press and its ability to report the news, with the reverberations felt in some…
Across Asia, press freedom conditions varied radically in 2003, from authoritarian regimes with strictly regulated state-controlled media in North Korea and Laos, to democratic nations with outspoken and diverse journalism in India and Taiwan. Members of the media throughout the region struggled against excessive government interference, outdated press laws, violent attacks, and imprisonment for their…
The U.S. media went to war in 2003, with both embedded and independent reporters pouring into Iraq to cover the U.S.-led invasion and its aftermath. U.S. officials called the invasion the best-covered conflict in history, but it was also one of the most deadly for journalists. All told, 19 reporters died while working in Iraq,…
New York, January 21, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the guilty verdict handed down to Koran Tempo in a defamation suit brought by businessman Tomy Winata. In a verdict delivered January 20, the South Jakarta District Court ordered Koran Tempo to pay US$1 million in damages to Tomy (who is referred to by…
New York, December 29, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called for a full investigation into the death of Ersa Siregar, a senior reporter for the private Indonesian channel Rajawali Citra Televisi (RCTI), who was shot and killed today during a gun battle between Indonesian military forces and separatist rebels in the war-torn Aceh Province,…
New York, October 27, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is dismayed that the executive editor of the daily tabloid Rakyat Merdeka was sentenced today on charges of insulting the president. The South Jakarta District Court gave editor Supratman (who, like many Indonesians, uses only one name) a six-month suspended sentence after Rakyat Merdeka published…
New York, October 7, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned about the safety of journalists Ersa Siregar and Ferry Santoro, who have been held hostage by rebels from the Free Aceh Movement (known by its Indonesian acronym GAM) for more than three months. Their current whereabouts are unknown, and Siregar is reportedly…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about the growing use of Indonesia’s antiquated criminal defamation laws to punish and intimidate journalists who are critical of government officials and other powerful individuals. This alarming trend is eroding hard fought press freedoms in Indonesia, and we call on you to put a stop to these criminal cases.