Over 40 journalist leaders met in Taipei, Taiwan over July 7-10 at an International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Asia-Pacific conference called "Media for Democracy - the Challenge in Asia".
Hosted by the IFJ's Taiwan affiliate, the Association of Taiwan Journalists, and supported by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, the meeting brought together leaders of journalists' organisations from: Australia, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand.
The meeting passed the following resolution:
This meeting of over 40 journalists' leaders from the International Federation of Journalists Asia-Pacific group, led by the IFJ President Christopher Warren meeting in Taipei from 7-10 July:
RECOGNISING the misuse of the Indonesian criminal law in defamation cases;
DEMANDS that the Government of Indonesia amend its law so that libel and defamation can only be tried as civil matters. We also demand that the Indonesian Press Law be used as a mechanism for the dispute of a media report. We also call for the removal of the crime of "insulting the President or Vice-President" from the Indonesian criminal code;
MAINTAINS that all charges against Tempo editor Bambang Harymurti be dropped. Harymurti is currently on release pending an appeal, but lives with the threat that he could go to jail at anytime. The IFJ also calls for the criminal convictions against Darwin Ruslinur and Budiono Saputro, who were found guilty of defamation and sentenced to nine-months imprisonment in May this year, be dropped;
MAINTAINS that the use of the Indonesian Criminal Code in defamation cases directly undermines freedom of the press and freedom of expression. Demands that a review of the law be conducted to ensure that an appropriate and rational relationship between relevant harm and amount of damages awarded can be formed;
DEMANDS that these resolutions be recognised by the Indonesian government so that democratisation can prevail and corruption can be combated;
REITERATES that no journalist should be going to jail for doing their job: jailing journalists undermines the basic human right to free speech.
For further information, please contact Christopher Warren on +61 411 757 668.
The IFJ represents over 500,000 journalists in more than 110 countries
