Dyah Ayu Pitaloka & Yuli Krisna, Malang/Bandung – Reporters and activists highlighted the lack of protection for journalists in Indonesia to mark World Press Freedom Day on Friday.
In Malang, journalists and students sporting clothes and hats made from folded newspapers gave roses to police and military officers and government officials.
Eko Widianto, chairman of the East Java city's chapter of the Alliance for Independent Journalists (AJI), said there had been a rise in the number of cases of violence against journalists, with 55 cases recorded from May 2012 to April this year, compared with 43 cases during the preceding year.
"In Malang, a case of violence was experienced by a female journalist in early 2013.... Freedom of the press is hampered by violence," Eko said.
Student journalists are among those who have been targeted. The Malang chapter of the Indonesian Student Press Association (PPMI) said staff at campus publications had received verbal abuse from students and university officials. He said the incidents were a sign of low public awareness of journalism's function in society and inadequate protection for free speech.
"Sometimes [university officials] ask [campus publications] directly not to write bad things about the campus. Dozens of press unions inside universities are also restricted while covering events. News we write must also pass the selection [process of the university] before it is printed," PPMI secretary Dhedy Baroto said.
In Bandung, the local chapter of AJI and the Indonesian Television Journalists Association (IJTI) marked World Press Day by remembering journalists killed while doing their job or murdered because of their work.
"Since 1996, according to AJI records, there have been 10 journalists who were killed because of their work. We want to celebrate [World Press Day] by reminding everyone about the dire situation facing the Indonesian press," Zaki Yamani, chairman of the AJI in the West Java capital, said on Friday.
Zaki said that of the 10 cases, only one resulted in a conviction, with the alleged killers walking free in the other cases.
In February 2010, the Denpasar District Court handed down life sentences to one-time legislative candidate I Nyoman Susrama and two codefendants for the premeditated murder of Radar Bali journalist Anak Agung Narendra Prabangsa a year earlier.
The killing was motivated by Prabangsa's coverage of alleged graft in construction of an international kindergarden, elementary school and other projects in the Bangli district's education office.
"Ensuring the freedom of the press and stopping violence against journalists is actually simple: Just enforce the Press Law and the Transparency of Public Information Law. For the media industry, enforce the Labor Law," Zaki said.
Indonesia ranks 139th out of 179 countries according to the 2013 Press Freedom Index by Paris-based advocacy group Reporters Without Borders. While journalists in big cities tend to operate safely, those working in smaller city and towns are more vulnerable.