Timorese Press Council counts on with the support of Indonesia
The Secretary of State for Media, Nélio Isaac Sarmento, made an official visit to the Indonesian Press Council, in Jakarta, last October 31st.
On that visit, the Secretary of State met with the President of the Indonesian Press Council, Professor Bagir Manan, aiming to talk about the future establishment of the Press Council of Timor-Leste, and he asked the Indonesian Press Council for their support, regarding this process.
According to the words of Professor Bagir Manan, “the Indonesian Press Council is available to support the establishment of this future Press Council in Timor-Leste”.
“We hope that the experiences of our Press Council can serve as a reference to Timor-Leste in order to reach the establishment of an independent Press Council, aiming to ensure freedom of the press and expression”, added Bagir Manan.
The meeting ended with the common agreement that, soon, it will be signed a memorandum of understanding, that will render this support official.
The Press Council of Timor-Leste will be established as soon as the Proposal on the Media Law, presented by the Government to the National Parliament, is approved and enacted by the President of the Republic. Even so, its process has already begun with the preparation of the Statute of the Press Council. Journalists, along with professional organizations and the media owners, have already made an appreciation on the draft of the Statute. It was also named a work team to carry out its harmonization, after the Journalists’ National Congress, which was held last October 27th, in Dili.
