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Indonesian journalists face violence, criminalization
Two decades into the Reform Era, which has promised the Indonesian people civil liberty, the country has seen stagnation in press freedom, according to the 2019 South East Asia Media Freedom Report.
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The Press Law has in fact allowed anyone who objects to a journalistic work to exercise their “right of reply” or “right of correction”, and if the right of reply is insufficient, they can then raise a report with the Press Council, which will then assess whether or not the journalistic work violates the journalism code of ethics. (Shutterstock/File)
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s a city journalist of four years, Nibras Nada Nailufar frequently visited the Jakarta Police headquarters. It never occurred to her, though, that one day she would have to go there as a plaintiff to file criminal charges against its personnel.
On the evening of Sept. 25, Nibras was at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC), located near the House of Representatives complex, where protests had escalated into riots. People had inundated the streets that day in a week-long demonstration initiated earlier that week by university students to protest against several controversial bills.
Surrounded by police personnel, Nibras said she had expected to be safe there. What happened next, however, would make her anxious every time she had to come across police personnel in the weeks to come.
While recording with her phone some police officers dragging, kicking and punching an alleged protester, Nibras was approached by an officer who asked her to delete the video. Upon her refusal, some other officers pulled her bag and hands and were about to attack her until the first officer took her away for questioning. There, two police officers asked her not to publish the video before releasing her.
Nibras published the video afterward, and the following month she decided to file charges on the grounds that the officers had violated Article 18 of the Press Law for interfering with journalists' work.
"After the incident, I felt pressured. I felt anxious that police personnel would recognize me after my name made it into the news," she told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
Two decades into the Reform Era, which has promised the Indonesian people civil liberty, the country has seen stagnation in its press freedom, according to the 2019 South East Asia Media Freedom Report.
