PRESS FREEDOM SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014 13 Japan hits out at S. Korea over reporter’s libel charge Tokyo criticised the indictment of a Japanese jour-nalist in South Korea over a story about President Park Geun-Hye, saying the move raised serious concerns about press freedoms. Tatsuya Kato, who until October 1 was bureau chief of the conservative Sankei Shimbun newspaper, was in-dicted late on October 9 on suspicion of criminally libel-ling Park, a charge that could see him jailed for up to seven years. Kato, 48, has been under investigation since August – and has been banned from leaving the country – over an August 3 column about “rumours” concerning Park’s whereabouts on the day the Sewol passenger ferry sank with the loss of 300 lives. While he used some original quotes from his own sources, Kato’s story was chiefly based on information al-ready available online, and which has not been the sub-ject of any complaint. “It is contrary to the common values of the interna-tional community that law enforcement must be done in a reserved manner in the light of freedom of press, which is vital in a democracy,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said. Media freedom group Reporters Without Borders has also defended the Sankei, arguing the subject of the pa-per’s column was “clearly” in the public interest. / AFP French journalists jailed in Papua Two French journalists were handed on October 24 short jail terms for illegally reporting in Papua, sparking calls for the new Indonesian government to lift long-standing re-strictions on foreigners covering the restive province. Thomas Dandois, 40, and Valentine Bourrat, 29, were each given a two and a half month jail term, but will walk free on Monday after having already served the time in custody awaiting trial. The pair were detained at the start of August while making a documentary for Franco-German television channel Arte about the separatist movement in eastern Papua. Indonesia is deeply sensitive about journalists covering Papua, where a low-level in-surgency against the central government has simmered for dec-ades, Thomas Dandois (R) and Valentine Bourrat (L) testify during their trial in Jayapura on October 23, 2014 - INDRAYADI / AFP and rarely grants visas for foreigners to report indepen-dently in the region. Indonesia’s Independent Alliance of Journalists said it was the first time that foreign journalists have been tried for immigration violations in Papua, while rights groups called for new Indonesian President Joko Widodo to drop curbs on reporting there. “The Jokowi administration should... lift restrictions for independent journalists to visit Papua,” said Andreas Harsono, a Jakarta-based researcher for Human Rights Watch, using the new president’s nickname. Criminalising journalism In the past, foreign journalists caught reporting illegally from Papua have been quickly deported. But Dandois and Bourrat’s case went to trial, and the pair were charged with breaking immigration laws since they had tourist, not journalist visas. The pair could have faced up to five years in jail but in the end prosecutors recommended a much shorter sen-tence, saying they had admitted their mistake. While welcoming the short sentence, he warned: “From a legal perspective, this is not very good because it opens the door for the criminalisation of journalistic activities.” Foreign journalists can apply for visas to report from Papua, but in reality they are rarely granted. Under the current system, 18 different government agencies have to give their approval, Harsono said. AFP/ Liva Lazore
Asian Newspaper Focus 09/10_2014
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