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Screening packed despite threats

Jakarta Post - March 17, 2016

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Corry Elyda and Agnes Anya, Jakarta – Despite threats and a venue change, the screening of the documentary film entitled Pulau Buru Tanah Air Beta continued on and received an abundance of support from the audience.

Equipped only with a humble screen and sound system, the screening eventually went on as scheduled but moved from the Goethe Institute to the National Commission of Human Rights (Komnas HAM) headquarters in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday afternoon.

The persistence of organizers paid off as hundreds of people flocked to the Komnas HAM office. Organizers were even forced to make another screening session as the space was not enough to accommodate the crowd.

Whisnu Yonar, a member of the film's production team, said that Goethe's management canceled the event at 12 p.m., five hours before the screening was scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. "Their reason was they couldn't guarantee the security of the event," he said.

Whisnu said that according to Goethe, the police met with the management last night and in the morning, saying that the hard-line Islam Defenders Front (FPI) would stage a demonstration at the venue if the screening continued.

This is the sixth event in the past three months in Jakarta that was canceled because the police failed to maintain their impartiality and have taken the side of hardliners or protesters.

The last event was the Belok Kiri (Turn Left) Festival initially held in Ismail Marzuki Cultural Center in Cikini, Central Jakarta, last month. The event was eventually relocated to the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) headquarters.

Whisnu said that the organizers did not want to give up. They eventually tried to find another venue so the screening would go on. "We want to show to them [the police and FPI] there is nothing wrong with the film's screening," he said.

Pulau Buru Tanah Air Beta (Buru Island My Home Land), by renowned chef Rahung Nasution, is about the journey of two ex-political prisoners accused of being affiliated with Indonesian Communist Party, who come back to Buru Island and meet with other former political prisoners who still live there. "They walked down memory lane on the island," Whisnu said.

He said the film also tried to show the contribution of political prisoners who underwent forced labor there. "Buru Island, which is now the main source of rice for East Indonesia, would not be fertile without the toil of these political prisoners," he said.

Whisnu said the organizers were really disappointed with the police for the cancellation. "It signifies that repression still exists in this country. It turns out that we do not have freedom of expression," he said.

Astri Apriyani, an audience member, said, "I want to support this event. I am really upset with the police and the government. I thought when [President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo] becomes president, we will be free, it turns out that we are more restricted," she said.

Komnas HAM commissioner Muhammad Nurkhoiron said he objected to the police's action. "The police are tasked to guard civil liberties. However, what they have done is the opposite," he said.

Goethe's program director Katrin Sohns said through a text message that the event was not organized by the institute. "We provided the space for the screening. Please get in touch with the organizers for the details," she said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/17/screening-packed-despite-threats.html.