Police Are Still Enemies Of Press Freedom In 2019

Presskon AJI on press freedom in Indonesia (Wardhany Tsa Tsia / VOI)

JAKARTA - The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) said that Indonesia's ranking regarding press freedom has not changed. Based on the records of the international organization, Reporters Without Border (RSF), in ASEAN, Indonesia is in second place after Malaysia, which is in 124th place with a score of 36.77. Sadly, press freedom in Indonesia is still inferior to Timor Leste, which is ranked 84th with a score of 29.36.

Not only elaborating on the absence of changes in press freedom in Indonesia, AJI also assesses that violence perpetrated against journalists who are currently carrying out journalistic duties is mostly perpetrated by the police.

In fact, the General Chairman of AJI, Abdul Manan, said that the enemy of press freedom in Indonesia in 2019 is the police. This is reflected in the many cases of violence committed by the Bhayangkara Corps against journalists.

"The biggest contributor to the violence occurred in the May demonstrations (21-22 May in front of the Bawaslu building) and the September demonstrations (during the demonstrations in front of the DPR Building). Of the journalists who experienced violence, they were carrying out their main functions as journalists including filming the police. committing violence, "said Manan during a discussion at the AJI office, Duren Tiga, South Jakarta, Monday, December 23.

He agreed that the police had a duty to restore security. However, Manan did not agree that the restoration of security had to be carried out through violence and the victims were journalists.

Not only that, Manan also considered that the violence perpetrated against demonstrators and journalists was a serious form of silencing.

"This is serious silencing and is nothing new for the police. Therefore, seeing the many cases of violence by the police in 2019, if it may be called, the enemy of press freedom in 2019 is the police," he said.

He also assessed that cases of violence that often occur in the midst of reporters must be an important note. This is because if the violence against journalists is allowed to continue, it can continue to recur and cause anxiety.

"We are worried about this case of violence involving the police because no one has gone to the legal process," he said while explaining that this is different from the TNI, which has now sentenced six of its members to commit violence even though the sentences are not commensurate.

"This is not done by the police. This is the problem, because he is the legal apparatus he determines. This is where the police are biased, if they commit violence, they do not seriously process it," added Manan.

On that occasion, AJI also explained cases of violence experienced by journalists. In 2019, the number of cases of violence against journalists reached 53 cases which were dominated by physical violence as many as 20 cases.

In addition, there were 14 cases of destruction of tools or data resulting from coverage, 6 cases of terror, 5 cases of conviction and criminalization, and prohibition of coverage of 4 cases.

Chairman of AJI, Abdul Manan (Wardhany Tsa Tsia / VOI)

The agency that controls the Police

To prevent the occurrence of continuous violence against journalists or civil society, AJI also proposes several things. First, the police should receive education on the concept of human rights (HAM) and be given the understanding that there should be no violation of the law while maintaining order.

"There is a problem in police education. The police are also human, but they are state officials who have the privilege of having weapons. Therefore they are limited by law. If not restricted, all of us could die," said Manan.

Apart from the issue of providing education related to human rights, Manan also suggested that the police should be placed under a ministry such as the TNI which is under the Ministry of Defense. "It is time for the police to be like soldiers under the ministry so that someone will control it," he said.

It's just that, now the decision is in the hands of President Joko Widodo. He said the public is now waiting for Jokowi's commitment to alleviate the problem of rights violations against journalists.

"Does the president have the political will to respect human rights and press freedom? That is one of the highest points of expectation, even though we are not sure in our hearts," he concluded.