'Tiras' journalist attacked in Dili

DILI (JP): A journalist was beaten unconscious Sunday night by strangers mistaking him for an intelligence officer in the East Timor capital of Dili, a press report said yesterday.

Gaudensius Mau, 30, who works for Jakarta-based Tiras weekly and Dili's Suara Timor Timur, was on his way to a shop when eight men attacked him.

Mau said at Dili General Hospital yesterday he could not identify the men. He regained consciousness hours after the incident to find himself lying in a hospital bed.

"The strangers said I was a flat foot and they assaulted me there and then," said Gaudensius while still hooked to intravenous devices.

The assault occurred after calm had returned to Dili after last week's rallies by students and youths in support of Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo. The bishop has been in trouble for allegedly accusing the government of treating the East Timorese like "scabby dogs" and "slaves".

The reporter, who sustained injuries all over his body, said his attackers would not listen when he told them he was not an intelligence officer but a journalist.

Dili police precinct Chief Lt. Col. Beno Kalipong said the authorities were investigating the incident to capture the alleged attackers.

The police found Gaudensius lying unconscious, he said.

The incident has drawn condemnation from the local chapter of the Indonesian Journalists Association who have called on the people responsible to give themselves up.

The association's local branch chief Heri Yanto told local journalists not to be discouraged by the incident and to continue their jobs as usual. (03/pan)