Rift rocks 'Sriwijaya Post'

Rift rocks 'Sriwijaya Post'

JAKARTA: The management of Sriwijaya Post, which is based in
the South Sumatra capital of Palembang, is rocked by a managerial
conflict.

The conflicting camps, General Manager Fauzi Achmad and Chief
Editor Hendrowiyono, have accused each other of hiring street
hoodlums in their bids to force their will.

The conflict stems from the confusion in the shares of the
newspaper. The newspaper's employees were unhappy with the
inclusion of "strangers" in the list of shareholders.

The conflict burst into the open when Fauzi fired a journalist
he said had a past link with an "outlawed organization", a common
reference to the Indonesian Communist Party.

Antara did not make it clear how Fauzi and Hendrowiyono become
embroiled in a personal conflict but it said that both had been
involved in physical clashes.

The problem within the newspaper, which is partly owned by the
leading media group Kompas-Gramedia, has been reported to the
local police. (pan)