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.