'TVRI' celebrates release of hostages<\/p>\n
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan<\/p>\n
State TVRI television's local station in Medan, North Sumatra,
\nheld a gathering on Saturday to mark the release of three of its
\ntechnicians who had been held by the Free Aceh Separatist
\nMovement (GAM) for almost two months.<\/p>\n
During the gathering, the staff of the TV station expressed
\ntheir gratitude to God, while the three, who were accompanied by
\ntheir relatives, were feted by their colleagues. The strong hope
\nwas expressed by all that no such incident would occur in the
\nfuture.<\/p>\n
Also attending the gathering were Sumitha Tobing, director of
\nTVRI, and other TVRI executives from Jakarta, Medan and Aceh.<\/p>\n
The three, Kesuma Wijaya, 38, Bahrum Pohan, 41, and M. Suheri,
\n39, were abducted by GAM on their way back from Banda Aceh to
\nMedan in July and were interrogated by GAM in Perlak, East Aceh.<\/p>\n
Suheri was released on Sept. 6, 2001 for health reasons while
\nthe two others were freed on Oct. 1 after intensive negotiations
\nbetween GAM and TVRI.<\/p>\n
Bahrum said they had been treated humanely but were very tired
\nbecause they had been forced to move from one area to another.<\/p>\n
"We were well fed and there was no mistreatment," he said
\nafter the gathering.<\/p>\n
Sumitha said that learning from the abduction, TVRI would
\nadopt a neutral position in its coverage of conflict-prone
\nregions.<\/p>\n
"TVRI will continue to play a neutral role, especially in
\nrestive regions and, therefore, the conflicting parties should
\nunderstand the neutral position of the press.<\/p>\n
Sumitha denied GAM's accusation that the TV station has taken
\nthe government's side in its coverage of the strife-torn
\nprovince.<\/p>\n
"TVRI is not the voice of the government. It is our voice and
\nis aimed at accommodating the interests of the whole nation," she
\nsaid.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tvri-celebrates-release-of-hostages-1447893297",
"image": ""
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