Nairn Cut Off By Indonesian TV
Nairn Cut Off By Indonesian TV As He Names Military Killers Live On Air
Assassination interview censored by METRO TV
www.allannairn.com/2010/03/assassination-interview-censored-by.html
JAKARTA (AllanNairn.com/Pacific Media Watch): This afternoon METRO TV, a major Indonesian news channel, invited me to come on the air live for 30 minutes at 8pm tonight WIB (Western Indonesia Time) to discuss my recent report on political assassinations by the country's US-backed armed forces (TNI).
I agreed, and when we went on the air, by phone, shortly after 8pm, I urged viewers to go to this website to read the full, detailed report and then began to name the names of TNI people implicated in the killings.
Within a couple of minutes I was pulled off the air. A producer came on the phone and acknowledged that I had just been "censored".
The producer then sent a text message saying: "Really sorry Allan. Suddenly I have a policy from my boss."
I asked on the phone what that sudden policy was but the producer would not say. They said there were too many other METRO TV employees within earshot to speak freely about the matter.
As it happens, before being cut-off, I had only named the names of the low-level killers in one of the murders (Tumijan, see posting of March 21, 2010 for details). Who knows what would have happened if I had started out by naming generals?
This censorship is especially revealing since part of the TNI's strategy in trying to defuse my report is to say generally that it has no specifics, no facts. But when I give them, they pull the plug.
Allan Nairn
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
A Challenge to the Indonesian Armed Forces, and to the US Government. Statement of Allan Nairn in Response to Arrest Threat from TNI.
In response to my report revealing their
assassinations of political activists (see posting of March
21, 2010
http://http//www.allannairncom/2010/03/breaking-news-indonesian-army-kopassus.html),
the US-backed Indonesian armed forces (TNI) are threatening
to have me arrested, presumably on criminal defamation
charges. (See Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Nurdin Hasan ,
Jakarta Globe, " Indonesian Military Threatens Legal Action
Over Aceh Party Killings Claims
I welcome this threat from TNI, a force which has
murdered many hundreds of thousands, and challenge them to
arrest me so that we can face-off in open court. I will
be glad to stand in court before the Indonesian public and
detail TNI's role in numerous tortures, disappearances,
massacres and assassinations. I would welcome the
opportunity to enter a formal, public legal proceeding which
would afford the opportunity to question TNI generals under
oath. If given such a chance I would also attempt to call
US personnel as witnesses, and question US military, CIA,
State Department, and White House officials about their
support for TNI. I would ask these Americans why they have
given weapons, training and money to TNI, even as they have
seen that force repeatedly kill civilians. The Indonesian
justice authorities are famously afraid of the TNI. They
have not fulfilled their responsibility to protect society
by enforcing the murder laws impartially. But if they
want to arrest me instead of arresting TNI officers, fine.
That will give us a chance to publicly discuss the crimes
of the Indonesian -- and US -- governments. ENDS
http://www.allannairn.com/2010/03/challenge-to-indonesian-armed-forces.html