And in Indonesia, a leading television news network is reporting the Indonesian military is planning to charge journalist Allan Nairn with “smearing [its] good name.” In an appearance on Democracy Now! last week, Allan exposed that US-backed Indonesian armed forces assassinated a series of civilian activists in the province of Aceh last year. Democracy Now! reached Allan earlier today just before going to air.

Allan Nairn: “TV1, the Indonesian news channel, is running a text headline at the bottom of the screen saying the TNI, the Indonesian armed forces, are planning to charge me, to have me arrested. They then ran a second text headline at the bottom of the screen saying that they have filed such charges for tarnishing the name of TNI, the name of the armed forces. So it’s slightly ambiguous whether they are merely planning to have me arrested or whether they have already filed the papers with the police to do so.”

Amy Goodman: “And what does smearing the name of the military mean? What is the penalty for that?”

Allan Nairn: “Well, there’s a whole series of statutes, but lawyers I’ve spoken to say it could involve up to six years in prison.”

Allan Nairn broke the story just as the White House is engaged in fierce behind-the-scenes negotiations with Congress on restoring Indonesian military aid. Nairn has issued a public challenge welcoming his arrest so that he can face off with the military and expose the facts in open court.