PPM group protests at `Tempo' office<\/p>\n
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Following an attack on the office of the Commission for Missing
\nPersons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) by the Pemuda Panca
\nMarga (PPM) group last week, about 20 of the group's members paid
\na visit to the Tempo news magazine office on Wednesday to protest
\nthe way the weekly described the nationalistic group.<\/p>\n
Clad in fatigues, the young members of the group threatened to
\nrepeat the same act they carried out at the Kontras office, while
\nseveral members banged their fists on a table in a meeting with
\nTempo officials, according to the weekly's managing editor, Wahyu
\nMuryadi.<\/p>\n
But they staged their protest \"in a polite and orderly
\nfashion\", Wahyu added.<\/p>\n
The group was protesting an opinion article from the June 2
\nto June 8 edition of the news magazine, titled Terror on Kontras.
\nThe article implied that the attackers were \"of a lesser
\ndignity\", and described them as a \"gang\" and \"children of former
\nsoldiers\" in other parts.<\/p>\n
\"We listened to their complaints and offered them the right to
\nrespond to the article and we will publish it in the readers'
\nletters section,\" Wahyu said.<\/p>\n
Even though they claimed that their dispute with Tempo had
\nbeen cleared up, members of PPM filed a complaint at the Central
\nJakarta Police station against the weekly, alleging defamation.<\/p>\n
Yoga Santoso, one of the PPM chairmen who led the protest,
\nsaid their purpose for visiting the Tempo office building on Jl.
\nProklamasi, Central Jakarta, was to exercise their right to
\nrespond and prove that they were not \"of a lesser dignity\".<\/p>\n
\"Moreover, our fathers are retired soldiers, not deserters. We
\nare intellectuals, although some of us don't have a high
\neducation because our fathers are not rich men. We're not a gang,
\nand PPM is a legal organization so we're entitled to wear a
\nuniform,\" he added.<\/p>\n
PPM is the youth arm of the Indonesian Veteran Legion (VLRI).<\/p>\n
About 100 of its members attacked the Kontras office on Jl.
\nCisadane in Central Jakarta, hit the activists and vandalized the
\nbuilding on May 27 due to Kontras' stance on supporting peace for
\nAceh, which has been put under martial law.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ppm-group-protests-at-tempo-office-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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