Indonesian court lifts law that allowed government to ban books

2010-10-14 23:52:58 GMT+7 (ICT)

JAKARTA, INDONESIA (BNO NEWS) -- An Indonesian court on Wednesday lifted a 1963 law that allowed the government to ban books deemed as offensive.

"The 1960s Law on Securing Printed Materials whose content could disrupt public order is against the Constitution. The law is no longer legally binding," said Mahfud MD, the head of the court.

The court considered that the Indonesian Attorney General's Office did not have the right to ban books. The decision of stopping the publication and distribution of printed materials should be taken by the courts including providing avenues of appeal.

The law was enacted during the regime of former dictator Suharto in the 1960s. It was used to stop the publication of books that were considered dangerous or a threat by the government. The law remained in place even after Suharto stepped out of the presidency.

In the last six years, the Attorney General's Office (AGO) has used the law to ban 22 books. Most of the halted publications dealt with the 1965 coup attempt. The AGO's blacklist included a book on the mass murder of suspected communists in 1965 -1966, the insurgency in Papua and two books on religion.

The legal challenge to the law was organized by media watchdog PR2Media, which said that the AGO's bans and powers represented a lack of freedom of expression.

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At last, a good news story which also shows the value to the people of an independent justice system.