B

ook publishers, authors and editors in Bandung, West Java, and Indonesian students overseas have called for the protection of freedom of expression and have criticized the confiscation of books allegedly containing communist information by security personnel.

In a statement commemorating National Book Day on Tuesday, the Bandung literary community call on the government to protect freedom of expression as well as book publishing. “Only a dumb nation would ban book publishing,” said poet Ahda Imran.

Indonesian students overseas lambasted the repressive measures used by the security personnel against various art and cultural events in the name of anti-communism. “The crackdown and confiscation of books by security forces, which closes people’s access to knowledge, are anti-intellectual policies,” said Roy Thaniago, an Indonesian studying in Sweden.