From: Carmel Budiardjo <tapol@gn.apc.org>
Date: 04 Aug 95 15:59 BST

Mochtar Lubis condemns Pram award

Source: AFP
Date: 3 August 1995
Dateline: Jakarta

A controversy has eruped in Indonesia over the award of a
major Asian literary prize to communist (sic) writer,
Pramoedya Anata Toer.

Journalist Mochtar Lubis said Thursday he would return his
1958 Magsaysay award if Pramoedya was allowed to collect the
1995 prize. 'Magsaysay stands for democracy and human rights,
which is the opposite of Pramoedya,' Lubis told AFP.

Pramoedya, 70, was a prominent member of the communist (sic)
group Lekra which in the 1960s attacked Lubis and other
writers in the press, much of which the arts controlled at the
time.

Pramoedya, hailed internationally as Indonesia's leading
novelist, was awarded the 1995 Ramon Magsaysay award for
journalist, literature and creative communication arts.

Lubis was also jailed several times under presidents Sukarno
and Suharto for criticisng authority. He said he had written
to the Magsaysay committee threatening to return his award but
has yet to receive a reply.