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August 30, 2006
Indonesia:
The International Federation of
Journalists (IFJ) has called for the dismissal
of all charges against online editor Teguh Santosa
who is being tried under the Criminal Code (KUHP)
for defamation against a religion today in the
South Jakarta District Court, Indonesia.
Teguh, editor-in-chief of the
Rakyat Merdeka Online, faces up to five years
in jail for republishing the now-famous "Danish
Cartoons" which depicted the Islamic prophet
Mohammod.
Despite reports the Rakyat Merdeka
Online removed the cartoons from its site after
receiving complaints, and published an open apology
to those people it had offended, Teguh was detained
on July 19.
"This trial against Teguh
is an affront to free speech. To face five years
imprisonment, is not only excessive, it is also
an attack on the very foundations of freedom of
expression," IFJ President Christopher Warren
said.
"This is another terrible
violation of press freedom, which in a long line
of defamation lawsuits against journalists and
media organisations, including Tempo, Kompas,
and Trust, seems to highlight a troublesome pattern
in Indonesia," Warren said.
"It is time for the Indonesian
Government to recognise that jailing journalists
for defamation is an ineffective and inappropriate
penalty. The IFJ again calls for the government
to remove defamation from its criminal code,"
the IFJ President said.
"Defamation should be dealt
with through the civil Law of the Press 40/1999
in Indonesia," Warren said.
The IFJ, the organisation representing
more than 500,000 journalists in over 115 countries,
is campaigning for the complete decriminalisation
of defamation, and promotes the use of reasonable
civil remedies to simultaneously protect reputations
and press freedom.
According to IFJ affiliate the
Alliansi Jurnalis Indepen (AJI), the arrest and
detention of Teguh violated the spirit of Indonesian
law and its constitution, which guarantees the
protection of freedom of expression.
The IFJ urges the South Jakarta
District Court to honour the principles of the
Indonesian constitution, and find Teguh not guilty
of all charges and to send a clear statement about
the inappropriate use of the criminal code in
defamation cases.
To view the full report visit
www.ifj-asia.org.
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