Councillor beats journalist

TEGAL, Central Java: Hardjo Rasdi, a senior legislator in the Central Java town of Tegal, has come under fire for attacking a local journalist who covered his alleged love affair with a university student.

Nur Ikhsan, a 27-year-old reporter for the Kriminal (crime) weekly tabloid, was treated at a local hospital for injuries caused by the beating, which took place on Friday.

The victim reported the episode to the local police and the Tegal branch of the Indonesian Journalists' Association (PWI). PWI members condemned the attack, and demanded that police take firm action against Hardjo.

Hardjo, commission D chairman of the Tegal legislative council, was reportedly incensed by an article by Ikhsan on the legislator's affair with a female student.

The story identified the woman only as Yun, and said that the liaison took place at a hotel in Purwokerto regency, where the unmarried couple reportedly stayed for three days.

He invited Ikhsan to come to his working room, where the legislator slapped his face, and threatened to kill him.

"I told Pak Hardjo that what was published in my tabloid was based on facts and confirmations -- including himself. Still, he threatened to finish me off," Ikhsan said on Saturday.

Yun's mother, a relative of Hardjo's wife, also reported the case to the local police, demanding that the legislator be held on assault charges. --JP