Attacked daily greceives more threats<\/p>\n
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra<\/p>\n
The United States and media organizations here condemned on
\nFriday an attack on the office of the Sinar Indonesia Baru (SIB)
\ndaily in North Sumatra, while at the same time gambling den
\nworkers staged a protest against the newspaper.<\/p>\n
Such a criminal attack had no place in a free society and the
\nU.S. strongly supported a free press in Indonesia, said Paul S.
\nBerg, a United States Embassy official in Medan.<\/p>\n
\"Freedom of the press is a vital component of the democratic
\nprocess that the United States government supports in Indonesia.
\nTrue democracy exists only when the media can speak out without
\nfear of intimidation,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Berg said the police should arrest those responsible for
\nThursday's brutal attack, which injured six people and damaged
\nSIB's office equipment.<\/p>\n
\"Our sympathy goes out to the wounded and their families,\" he
\ntold journalists in Medan.<\/p>\n
The incident began when about 15 thugs, arriving in three
\ncars, descended on the office building at 1 a.m. on Thursday and
\nthen broke into it.<\/p>\n
The attackers, some carrying guns, later damaged much of the
\noffice equipment with metal and bamboo poles, witnesses said.<\/p>\n
The violence may have been provoked by articles run by the
\nnewspaper on gambling.<\/p>\n
In an apparent move to support the violent action, some 1,000
\nworkers from togel (a form of gambling) operations demonstrated
\nat the SIB office on Friday, warning the newspaper against
\nrunning more articles on gambling.<\/p>\n
They threatened to mobilize more people to storm the newspaper
\nif their demands went unheeded.<\/p>\n
The protesters accused the newspaper of being unfair in
\npublishing news reports on gambling as the articles, they said,
\nwere only critical of togel.<\/p>\n
According to them, certain editorial staff members were
\ninvolved in a gambling game, Micky Mouse, but the newspaper
\nlargely ignored it.<\/p>\n
\"If (SIB) writes an article, it should not be discriminatory.
\nEverything should be covered in it.<\/p>\n
\"We are extremely nauseated by those pretending to be clean,
\nas there are certain people on SIB's editorial staff also
\ninvolved in gambling. It's like a thief speaking out about a
\nthief,\" protest coordinator Darmadi said.<\/p>\n
The noisy protest ended peacefully amid a tight police guard.<\/p>\n
In response to the rally, SIB advertising manager Tuti
\nPanggabean said her office would study the protesters' demands
\nfor the newspaper to stop running gambling articles.<\/p>\n
However, the newspaper had carried seven articles in its
\nThursday edition condemning the attack.<\/p>\n
The Independent Journalists Alliance (AJI), the Indonesian
\nJournalists Association (PWI) and other media organizations also
\ncondemned the attack by the unidentified group.<\/p>\n
North Sumatra PWI chairman Muchyan A.A. said the mob attack
\nwas a savage and cowardly act by immoral people without any
\nreason and demanded that the perpetrators be detained soon.<\/p>\n
The incident showed that the law was no longer respected and
\nwas targeted on all press workers, particularly those in North
\nSumatra, he added.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesian journalists should forge cooperation to fight any
\nkind of terror related to their work that may criticize whatever
\nis against the law,\" Muchyan said.<\/p>\n
Medan Police chief Sr. Comr. Bagus Kurniawan said at least
\neight people were questioned over the attack and vowed to
\nthoroughly investigate the case.<\/p>\n
\"We shall certainly arrest the terror perpetrators,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Another high-profile attack on a media organization was made
\nlast year in Jakarta when the office of Tempo magazine was
\nstormed and vandalized by two gangs, one linked to a well-
\nconnected businessman and another to a political party.<\/p>",
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