Ismira Lutfia & Putri Prameshwari – Media organizations and activists have denounced the seizure of Batam-based Erabaru radio station's transmission equipment by local authorities, warning of a government crackdown on free speech.
In a news conference on Thursday, Wahyu Dhyatmika, from the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), called the equipment seizure "hard proof of the authorities' arbitrariness."
Tuesday's seizure "was a careless move and could backfire on them since we can use it as evidence" in future complaints, Wahyu said. He said AJI would sue the Ministry of Communication and Information technology in a show of solidarity with the station.
On Tuesday morning, local police and officials from the Riau Islands Radio Frequency Monitoring Body (Balmon) confiscated the equipment after warning the station to stop broadcasting without a valid license.
The station has an appeal working through the Supreme Court after two lower courts threw out a lawsuit seeking to overturn the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology's 2008 denial of its license.
The confiscation came less than a week after Tifatul Sembiring, the minister of communications and information technology, reasserted his support of press freedom in the country in a March 18 discussion with journalists and media activists.
"We are now doubtful of Tifatul's promise last week," Wahyu said, adding that any parties who objected to Erabaru's operation should have taken the proper steps by first lodging their complaints with the Press Council.
While the station is not broadcasting on its 106.5 frequency following the seizure, it is still streaming programs on the Internet, director Gatot Machali said.
Erabaru claimed in its lawsuit that the ministry declined to grant it a broadcasting license at the request of the Chinese Embassy in Jakarta because of the station's links to the Falun Gong movement, which is banned by the Chinese government.
The station based that claim on a letter dated April 8, 2007, purportedly from the Chinese Embassy and addressed to various Indonesian agencies, asking the government to deny the license.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry has previously denied receiving the letter. It did not reply to a request for comment on Thursday. The Communications Ministry said on Wednesday that the seizure had no political motive. It has not elaborated on why it denied the station's 2008 application.
Sholeh Ali, the litigation director for Legal Aid Institute for the Press (LBH Pers), called the case a violation of constitutional rights to freedom of expression and access to information. He said authorities' disregard for the pending court appeal had dented the whole legal process.
"We might lodge a complaint with the United Nations since Indonesia is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the authorities here are failing to address the case properly," Sholeh said.