The Jakarta Post, 24 February 2011
Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam says he will not issue a formal apology for his recent statements regarding a government boycott of media outlets that were critical of President Susilo Bambang Yuhoyono. “No pardon. No apologies,” he said Thursday.
Dipo had previously threatened to halt the placement of government advertisements in three media outlets, and also block their access to information on the government.
Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam says he will not issue a formal apology for his recent statements regarding a government boycott of media outlets that were critical of President Susilo Bambang Yuhoyono. “No pardon. No apologies,” he said Thursday.
Dipo had previously threatened to halt the placement of government advertisements in three media outlets, and also block their access to information on the government.
The three outlets he mentioned were Media Indonesia daily newspaper, Metro TV television station and TV One television station, for their criticism of the government.
In response, Media Indonesia and Metro TV parent company, Media Group on Thursday said that if Dipo refused to apologize for the statement it would seek to charge him for violations of the press law and freedom of information law.
Dipo said that his explanation to the House of Representatives regarding his comments was sufficient.
“Rather than paying attention to the demands [of Media Group], the House is a respectable forum [to give explanations to],” he said, as reported by tempointeraktif.com.
Source: The Jakarta Post
