Bintang Papua and Pacific Media Watch
JAYAPURA (Pacific Scoop / Bintang Papua / West Papua Media / Pacific Media Watch): Eleven journalists working in Papua are alleged to be passing on information to the Indonesian army – the TNI, triggering a protest from the Jayapura branch of the Alliance of Independent Journalists.
“AJI is very concerned that a number of Papuan journalists may be agents of the military,” said chairman of AJI-Jayapura Viktor Mambor.
“If this is true, it would significantly damage the reputation of journalists who are neutral and who consistently serve the interests of the general public.”
He said journalists should carry out their activities in the interest of the general public, in conformity with Press Law/1999 and should not be acting for certain groups or institutions.
According to the Press Ethics Code, they must at all times be “objective, accountable and transparent”.
The fact that 11 journalists may be assisting the TNI was “having a detrimental impact on those journalists who work in conformity with the ethical code because people may very suspect” other journalists.
“This is serious precedent and the public could very well regard all journalists as failing to be neutral and transparent. This is very serious indeed,’ Mambor said.
Investigating claims
He said AJI was carefully investigating the claims that some journalists were serving the interests of the military.
“We will investigate these claims while at the same time warning all journalists to work clearly within the terms set by UU/1999.”
Earlier, the website Umaginews.com reported that a number of journalists in Papua were suspected of being military agents.
They were said to include journalists in the print media, the radio, online, as well as in local and national TV.
As a result, many journalists were worried, fearing that they could be suspected of not being neutral or independent.
Report translated from the Bahasa Indonesian by the human rights agency TAPOL.
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Pacific Media Watch
