JP/5/press

JP/5/press

Soldier athlete attacks Papua journalist

Nethy Dharma Somba
The Jakarta Post
Jayapura, Papua

Dozens of journalists here on Friday condemned an attack on
fellow reporter Irwanto by a national athlete in Papua province,
and urged the attacker to be dealt with firmly.

The protesters staged a rally at the Papua office of the
National Sports Council (KONI) and demanded that the athlete be
arrested and taken to court.

Irwanto, who works for the Cendrawasih Pos daily, was beaten
on Wednesday by Ismail Sroyer, who is a discus thrower as well as
an Army soldier, at the KONI office in the provincial capital of
Jayapura.

Ismail suddenly attacked Irwanto when the reporter was
covering a training session held by local discus throwers,
injuring Irwanto the face and head.

Irwanto reported the case to KONI Papua executive chairman
Koos Urbinas, who asked the two to settle the matter amicably.

But minutes after Koos left his room, Ismail again attacked
Irwanto, kicking him and hitting him in the face, head and arms.

The attack was allegedly triggered by an article written by
Irwanto and published in the Cendrawasih Pos on an attempted rape
case involving a youth at Mandala Field, which hosts athletes
training as part of National Sports Week. Shortly after the
report's publication, Jayapura Police arrested a man over
attempted rape.

Although the article did not mention any names, Ismail was
apparently offended by the report, as it identified the location
where the attempted rape occurred.

Cendrawasih Pos chief editor Joko Suhendro slammed the beating
as an "arrogant act" that belittled the journalistic profession.

Ismail may be charged with Article 351 of the Criminal Code on
assault, according to the newspaper's lawyer Hendrik Tomasoa.

Harsh criticisms were also issued by Frits Ramandey of the
Papua branch of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) and
Usman Fakaubun of the local Indonesian Journalists Association
(PWI).

Koos, who received the protesting journalists, said he had
left the matter in the hands of legal authorities and hoped the
incident would not damage ties between athletes and journalists
in Papua. He said the case was being handled by the Trikora
military police command in Jayapura.

However, when the journalists tried to seek confirmation about
the legal process from Trikora spokesman Col. Rustaman Henry
Pramono, about 10 soldiers blocked them from entering Rustaman's
office. The move drew the attention from Muslims on their way to
a nearby mosque for Friday prayers and caused a traffic jam.

"Don't stage a demonstration at the military office
headquarters," a soldier yelled at the journalists.

In the end, the Trikora command representatives allowed only
two of the journalists to meet Trikora representatives.