Press Freedom and The Dangers to Journalists...

A free press is often seen as a hallmark of a mature democracy. The simple idea being that a free press in some way ensures that there is accountability and the culture of impunity and immunity is whittled away. However, a free press does not always guarantee the safety of those who wish to expose the excesses of some members of the community through their activism or their reporting. Indonesia has seen three journalists killed since February 2009. The latest, Ardiansyah Matra'is was pulled from a river in West Papua. Matra'is was naked and handcuffed.

Stop killing journalists!

Matra'is prior to his death was a reporter for Merauke TV. Matra'is death is also the culmination of a series of threats SMS-ed to journalists warning them that "if they played with fire they would be sure to get burned" and that they should be 'prepared for death'.

Matra'is' death follows the mysterious death of a Kompas journalist, Muhammad Syaifullah, in Kalimantan. The police have been quick to dismiss foul play, which suggests that the case theory as far as the police are concerned is that this was a suicide. Syaifullah had been reporting on the ongoing raping and pillaging of Indonesia's natural forests and resources by big mining companies.

These two deaths follow the death of Anak Agung Prabangsa of Radar Bali in February 2009. Prabangsa had also been the subject of threats after exposing irregularities in the building of an international standard primary school in Bangli, Bali.

It is time that the free press that is claimed to exist in Indonesia became free. The first step is to ensure that journalists can do their jobs in an environment where they are free from terror and threats of death and, in at least 3 cases in the last 18 months, death.

Russia -- A Free Press

Russia has not been known for its free press under the previous President, Vladimir Putin, and many have assumed that his anointed successor, Dmitry Medvedev, would be nothing more than a figure head as the real power would now move to the Prime Minister, a position now held by Putin. However, maybe this is not the case as Medvedev has essentially quashed amendments to the libel law which would have made the press in Russia a much less open place than it is now.

It is being reported that the Kremlin is keen to highlight the much more liberal views on matters such as press freedom. Perhaps this is to soften a particularly hard line approach adopted under Putin's Presidency. However, the proof of this will evolve over time as it remains to be seen how influential the former President will be as Prime Minister.

The Russian system of governance is an interesting one in that a "critical" note on a piece of legislation in effect sinks it. I guess this is some kind of veto power (note: I need to learn more about governance in Russia).

Apparently, this issue came about because Mr. Putin wants to dump his wife and run off and marry a 24-year old gymnast (I am guessing for her increased flexibility). Look, Putin would not be the first European leader to dump the wife for a younger, sexy, more flexible new wife. Putin only needs to look as far as France for an example of this, as Nicolas Sarkozy dumped his wife for the former model Carla Bruni.

Currently, the media in Russia can only be shut down for trading in the following news worthy items: state secrets, extremist statements, calls to carry out terrorist acts or statements justifying terrorism.

It would seem though that this is a no win situation for Medvedev as even those likely to benefit from this are sure to be vocal critics that this is nothing more than an exercise in propaganda.