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.