'Metro Bogor' attacked

'Metro Bogor' attacked

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Intimidation of the press took place on Saturday when around 20
unidentified men arrived at the Metro Bogor daily's office at the
Agrikon building on Jl. Siliwangi, Bogor, at around 3 p.m.

They were looking for the daily's chief editor, Alfian Mujani,
who, at the time, was in a meeting in Purwakarta, West Java. The
men demanded a marketing staffer of the daily, Suparno, give them
Alfian's cell phone number.

"About 500 of us make a living from gambling. Where's your
boss," one of the men yelled at Suparno.

When he refused to give the number, one of the men grabbed
Suparno's cell phone and found it.

"Don't even try to lie to us ... or we'll burn this office
down," said the man, later hitting Suparno, who suffered bruising
to his right temple.

Office security guards approached but the men had just left
the site.

A journalist from Metro Bogor, Untung Kurniadi, accompanied
Suparno to file a report on the incident with Bogor Police.
Untung also contacted Bogor Police chief Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul
Alam and requested protection of the daily's office and its
employees.

Untung said, as reported by Antara, that the daily had been
reporting gambling activities in Bogor city in its Jan. 2 and
Jan. 3 editions. He alleged that the unidentified men made a
profit from gambling and were angered by the daily's coverage of
it.

"Gambling is an illegal activity in this country. It's
perfectly understandable if we report on it," he said.

Police are still investigating the case but so far no one has
been arrested.