`People are selfish and thoughtless'

Violence or intimidation against the media could hamper press freedom and eventually deprive the public of its right to information. If this were to occur the reform movement would come to nought and freedom of the press and freedom of information would disappear like so much dust in the wind. The Jakarta Post spoke to a number of residents about last Saturday's incident at Tempo magazine when a protest by supporters of businessman Tomy Winata turned violent.

Hidayat, 50, is a beggar in Blok M, South Jakarta. He lives in Joglo, West Jakarta, with his wife and five children:

I think journalists search for the truth, so they deserve the respect of everyone.

I believe that journalists try to expose newsworthy items and publish truthful information.

They expose irregularities and people involved in corruption, including government officials. If someone is unhappy with a critical article, I think there are lots of ways to resolve the situation other than violence.

On the other hand, the security apparatus often isn't professional and often resorts to force. This causes them to act harshly and arrogantly when dealing with ordinary people, including journalists.

They don't feel guilty about their actions because they are so arrogant. They wash their hands of incidents where civilians or journalists are victimized.

I'm sure that in cases of violence, many innocent people have been blamed for things done by security personnel.

Indeed, I think finding the truth now is pretty impossible. The only thing that is possible is to commit acts of violence and brutality. People now are selfish and thoughtless.

Ndoko, not his real name, 27, is a police intelligence officer in South Jakarta. He lives in Bekasi with his wife:

Honestly speaking, when I work in the field and encounter crowds of people, like protesters, I just follow the orders of my superior.

However, there have been times when I personally could no longer stand to hear a crowd mocking us. Lots of times people provoke us into attacking them.

Most low-ranking police officers like me are caught in a difficult situation, between trying to be professional and dealing with what is really going on.

Police officers get upset when journalists take pictures of us beating or kicking somebody. I hate to be exposed like that.

As soon as these kinds of pictures are published, our commander will call us in to question us. This results in punishment and slower promotion through the ranks.

So sometimes we prefer to stop the photographer rather than be punished by our superiors. That's why police officers are easily irritated and beat journalists.

Worse, many times journalists make the police mad by exaggerating the news. Of course this upsets us, because the news seems to be harmful to the police.

But basically we don't get too upset about an article. We just face these dilemmas when we are out in the field.

Roy, 27, works as an artist at the Taman Ismail Marzuki Arts Center in Central Jakarta. He also lives near the arts center:

In my opinion, journalists who are doing their jobs are not guilty of anything. They are only seeking the truth.

The news they print sometimes displeases a certain party or institution found to be dishonest. And when people and institutions become worried about having their dishonesty exposed, they do the only thing they can think of, namely terrorizing, intimidating or attacking journalists.

And violence against journalists will only hurt the image of businessmen. They could go through the courts if they don't agree with an article and avoid using violence. Dialog is the most elegant resolution, I guess.

I worry that if the violence against press continues, journalists will start going on strike. If that happens, I wouldn't have anything to read or watch. It would be terrible to live without news.

In the Tempo case, the security forces should be blamed for failing to do anything to stop the mob. Why do they even bother to wear uniforms if they are only going to side with the powerful and the rich? I think they are puppets for the rulers, doing whatever they can to please them.

-- Leo Wahyudi S