Posts Tagged ‘Indonesia’

Indonesia: Radio station forcibly closed

September 14th, 2011

Radio Era Baru was on Tuesday forcibly closed by police and frequency monitoring officials. The move comes in spite of the fact that last week’s conviction of its manager on a charge of broadcasting without permission and disrupting neighbouring frequencies is still the subject of an appeal.

Indonesia: Radio station manager jailed

September 9th, 2011

A sentence of six months and a suspended sentence of another year in prison were handed down on Tuesday to Gatot Machali, manager of Batam-based Radio Era Baru, who was found guilty of broadcasting without permission and disrupting neighbouring frequencies. The station’s president, Raymond Tan, citing a leaked copy of a letter from the Chinese embassy in Indonesia, said the prosecution is the result of direct pressure by the Chinese government on the Indonesian authorities with the aim of preventing the station from broadcasting its programmes in Chinese about human rights violations in the People’s Republic.

Indonesia: Playboy editor jailed for “indecency”

October 11th, 2010

The former editor-in-chief of Playboy Indonesia has begun a two-year prison sentence for publishing images of women in underwear. Erwin Arnada was found guilty of violating indecency laws during a closed trial at the Supreme Court in August, overturning the acquittal decided by South Jakarta District Council in 2007. Islamic hardliners launched legal action against Arnada in 2006, attacking Playboy Indonesia offices shortly after the magazine’s launch. Spokesman for the Islamic Defenders Front, Soleh Mahmud, said that the case shows “pornography has no place in Indonesia”.

Indonesia: Journalist killed covering riot

August 31st, 2010

A journalist was killed on 21 August while covering clashes between two villages in one of Indonesia’s southern islands. Police watched the attack but did nothing to intervene. According to International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), journalist Ridwan Salamun was hacked to death by angry villagers. A group of 70 journalists staged a demonstration to express their outrage over his death.

Indonesia: Ban on Australian film Balibo

August 6th, 2010

The Indonesian government has placed a ban on the screening of the Australian feature film Balibo due to its sensitive issues.   The film tells the story of 5 Australian based journalists who were killed in the town of Balibo in Timor Leste in 1975. The Film Censorship Board in Indonesia argues that it could ‘reopen old wounds’ about East Timor. A screening of Balibo was orginally scheduled at the 11th Jakarta International Film Festival (JIFFest) but was cancelled after the festival committee received notification of the ban on Tuesday.

Indonesia: Pop star charged for sex tape

June 25th, 2010

Police have charged pop star Azril “Ariel” Irham with pornography offences for allegedly participating in home made sex tapes with two other Indonesian celebrities. The videos came to light after they were leaked on social networking sites Twitter and Facebook and have subsequently been widely circulated via mobile phones. Controversial Indonesian pornography laws prohibit public displays of flesh and behaviour that could incite lust and if convicted, Ariel faces a maximum sentence of 12 years imprisonment.

Indonesian blasphemy law overruled

April 20th, 2010

Human rights groups have criticised the Indonesian constitutional court’s decision to uphold a controversial 45 year-old blasphemy law yesterday. The Wahid Institute, the first group to lobby for a review of the law, and many other human rights campaigners for greater religious pluralism have stated that the decision is a “setback for Indonesian democracy”. The law also limits the number of recognised religions in Indonesia to only six: Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Protestantism and Confucianism. The blasphemy law will be applicable mainly to offences against Islam.

Indonesian censorship laws ‘blocks discussions on impunity’

March 17th, 2010

The Asian Human Rights Commission yesterday condemned the Indonesian governments ban of books and films under the guise of maintaining “public order” and “state unity”. The banned material covers subjects including the 30 September Movement and the conflict in  East Timor.