Police apologize for chasing reporters
Police apologize for chasing reporters
JAKARTA (JP): The National Police apologized yesterday for the
behavior of its members who intimidated journalists and searched
the office of Kompas and Surya newspapers in Ujungpandang last
week.
Chief spokesman Brig. Gen. Nurfaizi told The Jakarta Post that
the police action was "inappropriate" and out of line.
"We regret the error," he said, adding that he had given a
formal apology at a meeting with chief editors here yesterday.
He appealed to the press not to over emphasize the incident.
Last week, Ujungpandang police searched for five journalists,
who had ignored their summonses to appear before the police. The
police did not find them.
The journalists were wanted for questioning in connection with
their attendance at a meeting featuring Prof. William Liddle, an
American scholar on Indonesia who was in Ujungpandang as a
consultant for the U.S. Agency for International Development.
The meeting last month, organized by the local office of the
Legal Aid Institute (LBH), was used by Liddle to gather
information on USAID activities in the area. The meeting was off
the record and none of its content was printed.
Last week, Ujungpandang police issued summonses for Lily
Yulianti of Kompas, Adriliwan Bangsawan of Tiras magazine, Dahlan
of Surya, Mohamad Arfan of Pedoman Rakyat and Saiful Ilyas of
Fajar in connection with the meeting.
Four of the journalists refused to meet their summonses,
fearing that police would force them to disclose information on
the meeting.
Adriliwan, the only one who complied with his summons, said he
was not questioned as a witness as the summons stated. "They
accused me of taking money from Liddle," he said in Ujungpandang
yesterday.
The local bureaus of Kompas and Surya were searched by police
officers who were looking for the journalists.
The Ujungpandang chapter of the Indonesian Journalists
Association yesterday said it regretted the police officer's
behavior and said that it would not let the matter rest.
"They (the five journalists) were conducting their
journalistic duties. Such an act of intimidation is
unacceptable," chapter chairman Alwi Hamu said.
Nurfaizi said yesterday that the summonses for the journalists
violated police procedure.
"The police only have authority to summons chief editors," he
said. "If the Ujungpandang police wanted to know about the
meeting, they could have simply placed a friendly phone call to
the journalists and asked their questions." (rms/34)