Asia Times: Press freedom under Islamic spotlight


	February 19, 2002	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

Press freedom under Islamic spotlight
By Prangtip Daorueng

JAKARTA - The barring of the distribution here of the US magazine Newsweek for carrying images of the Prophet Mohammed may at first appear to be a press-freedom issue, but analysts here say it is a matter of balancing society's sensitivities with media space.

In a way, the decision by the magazine's Indonesian distributor to stop the distribution of the February 11 issue is a thorny problem in a free press environment, says Atmakusuma Astraatmadja, chairman of Indonesia's independent Press Council. "It is a dilemma," said Atmakusuma, pointing to the need for cultural sensitivity and press freedom to co-exist in the country. "But I don't think that it is a dilemma too difficult to deal with."

But the Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontieres argues that although it is aware that Islam does not allow the representation of the Prophet Mohammed, the case of Newsweek was still "censorship" and "is in the first place an attack on the free flow of information". Local journalists and media analysts, however, add that ultimately, press freedom is not only about journalistic freedom, ethics and professionalism. It also cannot function without acceptance from society, Atmakusuma says.

"Freedom of the press is not only based on journalistic ethics and professionalism, it is a social contract as well," said Atmakusuma, who in 2000 won the Ramon Magsaysay award, Asia's version of the Nobel Prize, for journalism. "If most Muslims in Indonesia and in the world are against the visualization of the Prophet, we have to respect that," he pointed out.

The Indonesian distributor of the magazine, PT Indoprom Indonesia, said it decided to suspend circulation of the Newsweek issue because of fears it would cause anger and unrest in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country. Ninety percent of its 201 million people are Muslims. The publication by Newsweek of images of the Prophet Mohammed has already become a controversy in the Muslim world, not least in Southeast Asia, home to the world's largest numbers of Muslims.

The Bangladeshi government has confiscated copies of the magazine, saying the image "may hurt the religious feelings of Muslims". Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi said on Thursday that "we will not allow the edition to be circulated". Protests were also reported from Sunni Muslims in Egypt, whose officials have called the images blasphemous.

Newsweek ran Turkish manuscripts showing the Prophet Mohammed with the angel Gabriel, and this appeared alongside the its cover story on "Searching the Holy Books for Roots of Conflict and Seeds of Reconciliation", written by Kenneth Woodward. The article tried to find an answer for conflicts between Muslims and the West, comparing and contrasting the Bible and the Koran.

In a letter sent to Newsweek subscribers, the company cited "technical problems" as a reason for the missing issue. While PT Indoprom Indonesia says it has exercised "self-censorship" in this case, it has also sought advice from different organizations in the country, including the Press Council and the national religious body Indonesian Council of Ulemas (Muslim scholars).

Umar Shihab, deputy chairman of the council, said the group has also asked Newsweek to apologize to Muslims worldwide for using the images. He said he did not think the magazine - which says it regrets that the reproduction of the illustrations offended some Muslims - aimed to insult Islam. But because the visualization of a prophet or God's messenger is forbidden in Islam, Shihab said the publication by Newsweek of the Prophet Mohammed's image "can be seen as an insult to Islam". Islam's ban on images of the prophets includes paintings, drawings, illustrations, personifications or interpretations.

Newsweek depicted three images of the Prophet Mohammed taken from an undated Turkish manuscript, a 1583 Turkish text, and a Turkish illumination of 1594-95.

In April of last year, Time magazine apologized for the "unintentional affront to the Islamic faith" it made by publishing a picture of the Prophet Mohammed meeting the angel Gabriel. The publication caused protests to erupt in Indian-administered Kashmir, India's only Muslim majority state.

On Friday, the Press Council officially told PT Indoprom Indonesia that while it did not find in the Newsweek article any deviation from the journalistic code of conduct, it recommends that the company seek opinions from religious and legal experts before making a final decision on the distribution of the February 11 issue. "The problem here is the printed images, not the article. I myself think that the article is an objective one," Atmakusuma said. "Because of the images, I verbally told the distributors that there was a risk for them to take in distributing the issue. This includes the business risk for them as a local company too," he added.

The risk Atmakusuma mentions includes legal risks from the criminal law, which was drafted during the period of Dutch colonization. He says although there is no clear legal ban on the printing of images of the Prophet Mohammed, prosecutors may still have authority to enforce the law on the ground that this action could destabilize society. "It would be difficult for Newsweek to win if someone decided to sue them," he said.

Apart from a fear of provoking extreme reactions from Muslims, Umar also expressed concern that the Newsweek article could mislead people into a perception of Islam as a religion that condones violence. "It would be better for the article to appear in an academic journal or be resented at a closed forum where people could discuss it," Umar said.

The government has taken action in the past on the grounds of insults to Islam. In 1990, the government revoked the license of the Monitor weekly tabloid on the basis that it defamed Islam.

But some say that the furore over the images does not mean there should be no room for the article itself to be publicized in Indonesia. Andreas Harsono, managing editor of Pantau, an alternative magazine that looks at media's performance, suggested a middle ground. "The story can still be taken to the people to discuss it, without having to install the images. This will give people a chance to see what is the ongoing debate about Islam, which is an important issue for people here," he pointed out. "There have been some good articles about Islam in Newsweek recently, and I think such articles can benefit readers if they have a chance to read them."

(Inter Press Service)