Special report:
2008 Olympic
Games
JAKARTA, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian National Sport Committee
chairperson Rita Subowo said on Friday that the international Olympic torch
relay cannot be used for disseminating political propaganda, as it was against
the Olympic charter.
The chairperson said that Indonesia, which the torch will pass through on
April 22, would stick on the rules.
Many activists in some countries have used the moment to deliver their
message of opposition against China on the recent riots in Tibet.
"In article 51 of the Olympic charter it clearly stipulates that all
propaganda, including political, are not allowed," she told Xinhua in an
interview at her office here.
"We stick to that," said Subowo.
Separately here, Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla told a press
conference Friday that the issue of Tibet was a domestic affair of China.
The Vice President said that Indonesia would use the Olympic torch relay
moment well.
Spokesman of the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry Kristianto Legowo said
that Indonesia supported the Chinese government to enforce law and order in
Tibet in a bid to normalize the situation.
Separately, the chairman of the committee for the Olympic to rchrelay in
Indonesia Hadisumao Marsis expressed his concern about the protest during the
torch relay in some countries, saying it could disturb the sport event." Please
do not disturb the sport relay in Jakarta," he told Xinhua.
Jakarta Police Spokesman Ketut Yoga Ana in an interview with Xinhua said
that so far there has been no indication of protests during the torch relay.
The spokesman said the security of the torch relay would involve over 1,500
policemen and hundreds of security guards along the route that the torch would
take, and hundreds of athletes.