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)