The Alliance of Independent Journalists condemns Bob Hassan's action in closing the tabloid, ParOn, on 9 June 1998.

As the owner of the weekly tabloid, Hassan took the decision without any prior discussion with the journalists and workers.

The official reason for the closure is that the weekly was not selling well. Yet the closure took place after Paron had increased its circulation dramatically from 30,000 to 70,000 in the last month.

According to AJI's information, the closure took place because Paron journalists wanted to practice press freedom, inspired by the recent wave of political reform. For instance, by conducting an investigation into Soeharto's hidden wealth. In the last two editions, Paron's cover stories were "Action to Reveal Soeharto's Wealth" (1 June edition), and "Soeharto Family's Land as Big as Jakarta" (8 June edition). This, despite the fact that ParOn's Managing Director had warned the editorial staff not to publish anything linked to the controversy surrounding former president Soeharto, who is a close friend of Bob Hasan.

Hasan's action is another form of banning, which AJI warned about 3 years previously, on the grounds that Soeharto's policy on share holdings in the mass media threatens Indonesian press freedom from two sides: the government as power holder, and the owner as investor. The closure of Paron proves it: banning can be carried out by media investors.