AJI protests attacks on journalists

AJI protests attacks on journalists

Bambang Bider and Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post,
Pontianak/Bandar Lampung

The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) staged a
demonstration to protest attacks against three journalists in
Lampung and Pontianak, and demanded authorities to investigate
the incidents thoroughly.

In Bandar Lampung, hundreds of journalists rallied on Tuesday
in support of Syaifullah, a photojournalist at Lampung Post, who
was attacked by a group of police officers on Monday.

Syaifullah gave his account of the incident to fellow
journalists during the rally, that he was beaten and his camera
seized when he was taking a photograph of several police beating
up a driver who had hit their police car.

The rally, which was held at the Solfian Achmad Journalist
Hall, concluded after the protesters agreed to establish an
advisory team to back Syaifullah in the case.

Sr. Comr. Deddi Junaedi, chief of Bandar Lampung Police, said
that the incident would be investigated thoroughly, and the
delinquent police officers punished.

In a separate incident, two journalists were attacked in
Pontianak on Monday.

Anton Perdana, 22, a journalist at Equator daily, and Rizal
Ardiyansyah, 23, a journalist at Volare radio station, reported
that they were beaten by a member of the city legislative
council.

The attack was linked to Anton's article on an alleged bribery
case that involved the councillor, who was identified only as H.

Ali Hanafia, chairman of the city council, called on local
police to investigate the case thoroughly and fairly. "The
councillor must be punished if he is found guilty in the case,"
he said.