Attack on Parepare newspaper condemned
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.