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The Balibo five were Malcolm Rennie, Greg Shackleton, Gary Cunningham, Brian Peters and Tony Stewart

Indonesia has banned the film Balibo,
which depicts the deaths of six foreign journalists in East Timor, the
head of the foreign correspondents club said.

The club cancelled a screening of the film on legal advice that they could face charges.

The journalists died as Indonesian troops invaded East Timor in 1975.

Jakarta
maintains they were killed accidentally in cross-fire. But an
Australian coroner found in 2007 that the journalists had been
executed.

The journalists - two Australians, two
Britons and a New Zealander - were killed in the border town of Balibo
as Indonesian forces entered East Timor.

A sixth Australian journalist was killed in Dili shortly after when Indonesian troops entered the city.

Successive
Australian governments have accepted the Indonesian stance but
Australian police announced earlier this year they were opening a war
crimes inquiry into the deaths.

Balibo depicts the journalists,
working for Australian TV networks, being brutally murdered by
Indonesian troops as they attempt to surrender.

Diplomatic fears

The
head of the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club (JFCC) told an audience
gathered for a private screening on Tuesday night that Indonesia's Film
Censorship Agency had banned the movie.

"I haven't received anything official but after consulting with our
legal advisers, we decided it would be too risky because, while this is
a private screening, it would be in a public place thus violating the
law," said JFCC president Jason Tedjasukmana.

Organisers for
the Jakarta International Film Festival (Jiffest) said they had also
cancelled their planned screenings of the film.

"They told us that we cannot show the movie," said Jiffest manager Nauval Yazid.

"The
reason was not really clear. It is likely because of concerns that it
will affect relations with East Timor and Australia."

Indonesian military figures welcomed the ban.

"It will only hurt many Indonesians," military spokesman Rear Marshal Sagom Tamboen told the Jakarta Post.

"The movie will only do irreparable damage to the ties between Indonesia, Timor Leste [East Timor] and Australia."

Indonesia invaded East Timor after the territory descended into civil war following the end of Portuguese colonial rule.

At
least 100,000 people are believed to have died as a result of
Indonesia's 25-year occupation. East Timor achieved formal independence
in 2002.

 Indonesia 'bans' East Timor film

from the BBC