Attack on Parepare newspaper condemned

Jupriadi, The Jakarta Post, Makassar

The Independent Journalists' Association (AJI) condemned a brutal attack by military police on the offices of the Parepos daily in the South Sulawesi town of Parepare on Monday, and demanded the local military leadership to investigate what they called intimidation of press freedom.

"AJI condemns the incident because it has threatened the freedom of the press and is against Law No. 4/1999 on the media," Abdul Haerah, chairman of the local office of AJI, said in a press conference here on Monday.

Haerah who was accompanied by AJI Secretary Muannas said AJI would immediately lodge a strong protest to the chief of the Wirabuana Military Command overseeing Sulawesi and called for a thorough investigation into it.

Yasser Latief, chief editor of the daily, explained to The Jakarta Post that the incident occurred when 20 personnel of the military police unit of the military subdistrict in Parepare, some 300 kilometers north of the provincial capital, damaged furniture and beat an employee at the daily's office in the city at 2:45 p.m. local time. The officers said they were seeking revenge against the newspaper because of a recent story about the arrest of a military officer who was caught using illegal drugs at a night club in the town.

He said that soldiers also broke several windows and shouted insults and threats at the employees.

Such press intimidation has been a frequent occurrence of late in other provinces as well, reminding some of the Soeharto era media suppression.

Yasser said he was angry and upset over the incident and would report it to the local police for further investigation.

"The military police should not use their powers to suppress the news if they have an objection to it, and what they did was not educative, but shows the military's arrogance and a serious harassment of civil rights," he said, adding that the press had the legal right to expose what was happening in society.

Asked about material losses the daily suffered from the incident, Yasser said his employees and journalists were extremely traumatized by the violence and that was far more valuable than any of the furniture damaged in the melee.

Yasser, however, said that despite the incident, the newspaper would continue operating to provide necessary information to the public in the town.

"The intimidation will never kill the press freedom and we will continue appearing as we have in the past," he said.

The chief of the Military Command was not available for comment on Monday.