Three detained over attack on media daily
Three detained over attack on media daily
Apriadi Gunawan, Medan, North Sumatra
Police here said on Monday they had arrested three people
suspected of carrying out last Thursday's attack on the Sinar
Indonesia Baru (SIB) daily newspaper and were searching for the
mastermind, an alleged gambling operator.
The three are being detained at the Medan Police office. They
were identified as Charles Panjaitan, 31, Taufik, 27, and
Hasudungan Malau, 21.
Medan Police gambling unit chief Adj. Comr. Edison Sitepu said
the suspects were rounded up on Sunday night in their homes in
Medan.
The three confessed to storming the newspaper's office,
breaking its windows and office equipment and beating up six
employees, Edison said.
Police investigators were told by the suspects the attack was
triggered by news reports about gambling dens in North Sumatra,
which were carried by the Medan-based newspaper.
The suspects said the assault was ordered by an alleged
gambling operator in Tembung subdistrict, identified only as
Raju, who remains at large.
Raju gave the order after a meeting at a liquor shop in the
Patumbak area, Edison said.
Raju, the three suspects and others drove three cars to the
SIB office on Jl. Brigjen Katamso, Medan.
The men went on a rampage through the newspaper's
administrative office on the ground floor, damaging computers and
other equipment.
The perpetrators beat up six employees and a security guard
was later taken to hospital.
"The three suspects have admitted to rioting at the orders of
Raju. We are now seeking Raju, who is thought to have gone into
hiding in Medan," Edison said.
Witnesses have said the attackers, numbering at least 15
people, were mostly well built, with several carrying guns and
tear gas.
Edison said the detained suspects admitted they heard shots
fired during the rampage but denied knowing who the guns belonged
to.
"We hope the statements given by the three people will lead to
the immediate arrests of other suspects and (Raju)" he said.
The Thursday attack is another in a long list of terror
campaigns and intimidation against the free press in the country
following the fall of former dictator president Soeharto in May
1998.
A high-profile attack on a media organization also occurred
last year in Jakarta, when the office of Tempo magazine was
stormed and vandalized by two gangs, one linked to a well-
connected businessman, the other to a political party.
Press freedom has also been put to the test by well-known
public figures and businesspeople who have lodged defamation
suits against newspapers and magazines in a bid to make them
bankrupt, media analysts said.