May 26, 2000
US Military Once Again Helps Indonesia
The US military has quietly resumed cooperation with the Indonesian military after cutting off ties last year during the violent repression in East Timor. American officials invited Indonesian officers to take part in joint exercises in July. The Clinton administration says Indonesia’s newly elected democratic government is reason enough to renew ties. But critics like Wisconsin Congressman Russell Feingold want assurances that Indonesian officials responsible for war crimes in East Timor will face justice. Max Pringle spoke with journalist Alan Nairn, who was the last Westerner reporting from East Timor after violence broke out and who was detailed, then expelled by the Indonesian military, even during their most murderous rampages.
Did the Los Alamos Fire Create a Radioactive Hazard?
The government’s controlled burn in New Mexico, which got out of hand earlier this month and scorched parts of Los Alamos, is finally dying out. But as Kent Patterson reports from Albuquerque, concerns over potential health and environmental problems stemming from the burning of lands near the nuclear laboratories are still heating up.
No Latinos on Los Angeles Grand Jury
Grand juries in California hand down indictments in criminal cases from voter fraud to murder, and they investigate county government. With so much responsibility you’d think the grand juries would be very reflective of the communities they represent, but in Los Angeles that isn’t the case. Robin Urevich reports on how the LA County Grand Jury, which conducts its business entirely in secret, is under fire because it is almost all white in a county where nearly half of the population is of color.
Serbia Cracks Down on Journalists
Last week, some 150 Serb police seized control of Studio B, a popular independent radio and TV station in Belgrade. The takeover also quashed three other independent media outlets in the same building: Radio B2-92, Radio Index, and Blitz, Serbia’s highest circulation daily newspaper. All three have suffered harassment under Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic’s regime. Still, critics say the simultaneous shutdown of the most visible independent media in the Yugoslav capital is seen as a major escalation of the repression of dissent. Kellia Ramares reports on how Radio B2-92 is using the Internet to get around government censorship.
Environmentalists, Conservatives Battle Over Roads in National Forests
The National Forest Service will hold public hearings next month on a Clinton administration plan to ban road building on 43 million acres of pristine national forest across the country. The administration prefers the compromise plan, but the plan isn’t without its detractors. Environmentalists say too little forest land will be protected, and timber interests fear a loss of access. Leigh Robartes has more from Idaho.
Free Speech Radio News is a production of Pacifica Reporters Against Censorship. Over 40 freelance reporters in 14 states and four continents are boycotting the Pacifica Network News for censoring legitimate news stories. These reporters are risking their livelihoods.
Free Speech Radio is Produced by Aaron Glantz and Andrea Sears
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Max Pringle anchors.
