Jakarta Globe, June 22, 2010
One of Indonesia’s most respected journalists, Goenawan Mohamad, is holding a news conference this afternoon to explain why he is returning his Bakrie Award, awarded by non-profit think-tank the Freedom Institute in 2004.
The former chief editor of Tempo magazine is also returning the Rp 100 million ($11,077) prize money he was awarded by the institute, established by controversial businessman and politician Aburizal Bakrie.
The institute’s Web site says the annual awards, established in 2003, are presented to “distinguished countrymen and women for their extraordinary achievements in the social sciences and literature.”
On his Twitter account @gm_gm, Goenawan, popularly known as GM, wrote: “Thank you for the best wishes and awards. I always think the best award is to have genuine friends. And you all are!”
Goenawan will send a delegation to return the award to the institute on Tuesday and then hold a news conference at the Teater Utan Kayu in East Jakarta to explain the reasons for his actions.
The senior journalist is the first person to return the award though Jesuit priest Franz Magnis Suseno, a respected social and political analyst, declined the award in 2007 because of the ongoing Lapindo Mudflow disaster.
A number of internationally respected scientists blame the disaster on PT Lapindo, a company under the umbrella of the Bakrie Group, which is controlled by the family of Aburizal Bakrie, chairman of the Golkar Party.
The company, however, has refused to accept blame.
Bakrie has more recently been labeled an enemy of reform by ousted former Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.
Goenawan Mohamad, in this file photo, said that he was returning a Bakrie Award he received in 2004, due to what he called Aburizal Bakrie's manipulation and "political drama."
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