Press freedom in Indonesia is currently still under threat because of the existence of laws restricting it, and pressure from the public and law enforcers, the Legal Aid Institute for the Press (LBH Pers) said.

"A few government policies show a tendency of wanting to control the press such as efforts to revise Law No 40/1999 on the Press," LBH Pers Executive Director Hendrayana said in a press statement here Friday on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day on May 3.

A government desire to curtail press freedom was also noticeable in certain articles in the Law on Information and Electronic Transactions (UU ITE) and the Law on Public Access to Information (UU KIP) which were enacted not so long ago, he said.

Article 37 , section (3) in conjunction with Article 45 in UU ITE read: "Whoever, on purpose and without having the right to, distributes and/or transmits, or enables people to access electronic information and/or an electronic document containing an insult and/or a vilification shall be liable to a penalty of 6 years in jail and a fine of Rp1 billion", he said.

Source: antara.co.id