Jakarta – The owners of books related to communism have been asked to hand them over the government. According to Defense Minister retired General Ryamizard Ryacudu, prohibitions on such material also covers documents circulating on the internet.
“Anything that smacks of it [communism], that’s enough. They’re banned. So what is the law on this? This is how it’ll be, there is a minister who has jurisdiction over it. I just don’t want this republic to be in an uproar. As far as I’m concerned, it’s like that. A warning, then hand them over. And don’t do it again”, asserted Ryacudu at the Defense Department’s media building on Friday May 13.
The Indonesian military (TNI), which have been conducting aggressive sweeps for communist books, recently seizing the book Hammer-and-Sickle in the Sugarcane Field (Palu dan Arit di Ladang Tebu) by Hermawan Sulistyo. Soldiers have also raided book shops in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta and the West Java provincial capital of Bandung looking for books being sold on communism.
When four Alliance of Indigenous People (AMAN) activists were arrested on Tuesday May 10 in Ternate, North Maluku, security personnel also seized the books The Logic of Rebellion (Nalar yang Memberontak) and the Tempo Investigation Lekra and Geger 1965 (Lekra dan Geger 1965). Not long ago, the Gramedia book shop chain also withdrew the Tempo series The Leftist (Orang Kiri) and Memoirs from Buru Island (Memoar Pulau Buru) from circulation.
Ryacudu claims that the TNI has the right to conduct sweeps for books on communism on the grounds that they disrupt security, citing Law Number 27/1999 on the prohibition of communist teachings, Law Number 34/2004 on the Indonesian military and Presidential Decree (PNPS) Number 4/1963 on the confiscation of printed materials whose content could disrupt public order.
Law Number 27/1999 however is a revision of the Criminal Code (KUHP) related to Article 107(a) on state security and under the Criminal Code only the police have the authority to conduct seizures.
The involvement of the TNI in assisting the police to maintain security also has to be through a political process via the president and the House of Representatives (DPR). Finally, PNPS Number 4/1963 was annulled by the Constitutional Court in 2010.
Meanwhile a group of people calling themselves the Literacy Activist Alliance held a peaceful demonstration at the Ismail Marzuki cultural centre in Central Jakarta. The alliance, which was established by Goenawan Mohamad, Yusi Avianto, Anton Kurnia and Okky Madasari, has slammed the security forces for conducting sweeps for and seizing books deemed to be related to communist ideas.
Goenawan said that the sweeps carried out be security personnel were stupid and could have been avoided.
Notes
Ryamizard Ryacudu is a former army general known for his hardline stance on separatism and xenophobic remarks and criticism of rights activists. In 2001 he praised the killing of prominent Papuan independence leader Theys Eluay, saying the Kopassus soldiers who murdered him were “heroes”. He is a close ally of Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri and as army chief of staff during her presidency oversaw military operations in Aceh and Papua resulting in countless civilian casualties.
[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was Buku Kiri, Menhan: Yang Punya, Serahkan!.]
Source: http://m.portalkbr.com/berita/05-2016/buku_kiri__menhan__yang_punya__serahkan__/81245.html
