Jakarta – In this age of surveillance, when nearly everything can be witnessed and recorded in real time, there should be little room left for manipulating truth.
Ideally, this should strengthen law enforcement and enhance public protection. But in reality, it has also enabled oppression by disapproving parties, including the government.
We lament the recent incident in which the Communications and Digital Ministry geographically restricted an Instagram post by online media outlet Magdalene featuring CCTV footage of the horrific attack on lawyer and human rights activist Andrie Yunus.
Andrie, a deputy coordinator of Kontras, is also a legal counsel and a witness in a critical judicial review challenging the latest amendment of the Indonesian Military (TNI) Law, which has become the legal basis for the ongoing expansion of military power in the country.
Two men on a motorcycle hurled acid at Andrie as they passed him on a street in Salemba, Central Jakarta. An independent probe by the Advocacy Team for Democracy (TAUD) has found that the attack was coordinated and involved 16 individuals, suggesting it may have been part of a military intelligence operation.
The Military Police Headquarters (Puspom TNI) has arrested four active military personnel assigned to the force's Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS) as suspects in the assault.
Although the communications ministry claimed that the social media restriction was due to human error and later restored the access, that does not change the fact that, once again, the government did not hesitate to flex its muscles in a way that threatens press freedom.
This is not the first occasion in which the government, under President Prabowo Subianto, has threatened journalists and media institutions.
In September last year, CNN Indonesia journalist Diana Valencia had her access to the Presidential Palace revoked after she questioned Prabowo about the progress of the free nutritious meal program. The President himself did not seem upset by the question, but that did not stop Palace aides issuing the restriction. Only after public condemnation and collective pressure from press organizations was her access restored.
The same goes for the Magdalene case. Only after press organizations and the wider public expressed opposition did the government reinstate access to the social media post.
It has also yet to become clear as to how or why an official in the communications ministry would restrict the post in the first place. This lack of clarity fuels speculation about the extent of the government's involvement in the attack on Andrie.
Aside from the resignation of BAIS chief Lt. Gen. Yudi Abrimantyo, the official investigation by Puspom TNI has yet to establish that the attack was planned institutionally. The four BAIS personnel are still being treated as having acted independently.
With the social media restriction attempt, there is increased skepticism about the attack investigation, including the possibility that the government is trying to cover up institutional links to the military.
As the Constitutional Court moves closer to ruling on the judicial review of the TNI Law, the restriction of coverage surrounding Andrie's attack can also be seen as an attempt to influence the case. If the government was not involved, why bother to control access to the video evidence?
Incidents like these amounts to press harassment. While they are not a direct attempt at censorship or closure of a media institution, they can be construed as threats to undermine journalists, press organizations and press freedom.
If the government, in this case the military intelligence apparatus, was not involved, it is time to support transparency in revealing the actual perpetrators.
Because once such a cowardly and vicious act is tolerated, it will be repeated, and that would mark a grave failure of the state to protect its citizens.
Source: https://asianews.network/stop-press-harassment-the-jakarta-post