23 arrested over arson, attack on journalists<\/p>\n
TEGAL, Central Java (JP): Police have arrested 23 people in
\nconnection with Thursday's arson of the home of a National
\nMandate Party (PAN) executive, and the attack on several
\njournalists here.<\/p>\n
The Central Java Police's Insp. Gen. Erwin MAP told reporters
\non Friday that four of those arrested had been named suspects.<\/p>\n
He said that what the police was handling -- the arson and the
\nattack on the journalists -- was \"purely a criminal case.\"<\/p>\n
\"We don't want to interfere in anything political that might
\nbe related to the case,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Some 300 people, grouped as the Diponegoro Force and believed
\nto be supporters of President Abdurrahman Wahid, staged a violent
\nprotest in Tegal on Thursday against Amien Rais, the speaker of
\nthe People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), midway through a
\nceremony to inaugurate members at the party's office in Tegal.<\/p>\n
The protesters started off by assaulting six reporters
\ncovering the protest, injuring them all -- one suffered a severe
\nconcussion -- and then moved on to burn PAN flags, Didi told
\nreporters.<\/p>\n
Following the demonstration, protesters marched to the
\nresidence of the newly elected chairman of PAN in Tegal, Djohan
\nFirdaus, in the Talang district, some four kilometers from the
\nlocal PAN office, and set fire to his furniture, motorcycle and
\nelectronic equipment inside his home.<\/p>\n
PAN executives arrived on Thursday at the National Police
\nHeadquarters to formally report the Tegal incident.<\/p>\n
From Jakarta, National Police chief Gen. Surojo Bimantoro said
\nhe has instructed the Central Java Police chief to take the
\nstrictest action against anybody who provokes, or resorts to
\ncreating chaos.<\/p>\n
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Didi Widayadi said the
\nincident could have been a result of the recent \"verbal war\"
\namong the political elite of certain parties.<\/p>\n
\"When political figures make controversial statements, those
\nstatements are used as fuel for the masses, and the masses end up
\nacting on those statements, and this creates chaos,\" Didi said.<\/p>\n
As of Friday, one of the journalists beaten in the protest,
\nAgus Wijanarko from Republika daily, was still in coma. He is in
\nthe intensive care unit at Harapan Anda Hospital.<\/p>\n
The other five journalists, Yon Daryono from private
\ntelevision station RCTI, Thomas from private television station
\nTPI and Marsis from Pikiran Rakyat daily, Bambang Mudjono from
\nRadar Tegal as well as Sarjono from Sinar Pagi suffered numerous
\ninjuries after they were beaten with iron bars by the protesters.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the secretary of the provincial chapter of the
\nNational Awakening Party (PKB) in Central Java, Abdul Kadir
\nKarding, said he regretted the incident. He said the violence was
\na result of provocation by those who wanted to blemish the image
\nof Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and PKB.<\/p>\n
Local NU chairman Muhammad Adnan stressed that the rally was
\nnot organized by his organization and he believed that the
\nanarchy was \"a spontaneous reaction of the people who see the
\npolitical elite still trying to topple President Gus Dur\".<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, both the Association of Independent Journalists
\nand Indonesian Journalists Association condemned the actions
\ntaken against the reporters.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Police Watch also denounced the disturbance,
\nsaying the actions were crimes and therefore the police had to
\nimmediately launch investigations.<\/p>\n
One of the group's executives, Rashid Harsuna Lubis, said in a
\nstatement that his group would continuously monitor police steps
\nin handling the Tegal incidents \"until the perpetrators of the
\nfray are all arrested and tried\". (ylt\/har\/emf\/45)<\/p>",
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