Key figures express support for `Tempo'

Key figures express support for `Tempo'

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Moral support continued to flood in for Tempo news magazine on
Thursday following a weekend attack on its journalists and
offices over a report it carried, while pressure mounted on the
police to uphold the rule of law.

Muhammadiyah chairman Ahmad Sjafii Maarif, United Development
Party of Reform (PPP Reformasi) secretary-general Zein Badjeber,
and students grouped in the University of Indonesia's Student
Executive Board (BEM UI), visited the magazine's offices on Jl.
Proklamasi in Central Jakarta in a show of solidarity.

The weekly's senior editor, Fikri Jufri, said the visitors
expressed their support for a press that was free from the threat
and use of violence

They also encouraged Tempo to take the issue to the House of
Representatives, Fikri said.

Noted figures, including Sjafii and senior journalist Goenawan
Mohamad, the founder of the magazine, are expected to meet
People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais over the issue
on Friday.

The public figures have met National Police chief Gen. Da'i
Bachtiar to demand that the law be enforced in respect of the
attack and intimidation of the magazine's employees.

Under the gaze of police officers, hundreds of people, who
claimed to be supporters of businessman Tomy Winata, attacked the
Tempo offices on Saturday after it reported on a Rp 53 billion
renovation project for the Tanah Abang textile market proposed by
the Artha Graha boss before the market was gutted by fire.

Police also kept silent when Tempo journalists were beaten by
the protesters in the Central Jakarta police station.

Tomy has filed a libel complaint with the Jakarta Police over
the report.

In a discussion on 68H radio station, Tomy's lawyer Desmon
Mahesa accused the magazine of committing character assassination
in its report on Tomy.

"The report hurts my client's reputation," asserted Desmon,
who was among the antigovernment activists abducted by Special
Forces troops in the twilight of President Soeharto's rule in
1998.

Speaking on the phone during the live discussion, Tomy
admitted that his people had come to the Tempo offices to protest
against the report.

"But it was legal because they had notified the police
beforehand. They probably turned angry because they are still
young. But I have reprimanded them and will punish them," Tomy
said.

Shows of solidarity over the attack on Tempo journalists and
offices continued in other parts of the country.

In the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar, some 50
journalists, academics, artists and lawyers held a rally to show
their concern over the incident.

The artists performed a one-hour play depicting the history of
Indonesia's media and the struggle for press freedom.

At the same time, several reporters, academics, lawyers, and
public relations officials from government agencies took turns in
expressing their views on the incident.

In the West Java capital of Bandung, dozens of journalists,
activists, and local artists rallied not only over the Tempo
incident but also the recent beating of a Pikiran Rakyat reporter
by the police.

Police officers beat up reporter Dudi Sugandi as he was taking
pictures of violent police action during a demonstration two
weeks ago.

The protesters expressed concern over what they believed was
an increasingly repressive regime regarding the press.

Noted musician Harry Roesli, who participated in the rally,
criticized the police's lack of seriousness in preventing
violence against the press.

"We must no longer allow this problem of indiscriminate
violence to persist. The public must not remain passive when
their rights are being denied," said Harry.

In the East Java capital of Surabaya, a group of 50 reporters
distributed flyers to motorists to raise awareness over the
threat to press freedom.

"We reject any form of violence against the press. We think
what has happened to Tempo is a threat to press freedom," said
Wishnu, a correspondent with the country's largest daily
newspaper, Kompas.