TV cameraman accuses famed 'dangdut' singer of assault

JAKARTA (JP): Police promised yesterday to summon witnesses to an alleged assault on an RCTI cameraman by noted dangdut singer Camelia Malik.

"We are studying the complaint. We haven't decided exactly when we will summon the witnesses, but we intend to pursue the matter in line with existing procedure," city police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said.

Ria Satria S., a cameraman for RCTI's Buletin Sinetron show, reported to the police on Wednesday that he was assaulted by Camelia when he tried to film her.

The incident allegedly took place at 2 p.m. on Tuesday when Ria and Buletin Sinetron reporter Iwan Perwira entered the secretariat of the Association of Indonesian Film Artists (Parfi) in the Usmar Ismail building in Kuningan, South Jakarta.

"We were trying to get Camelia to comment on the upcoming Parfi congress in her capacity as chairwoman of the congress committee.

"However she declined the interview. We later asked her to issue a statement for the upcoming RCTI anniversary celebrations, which she also refused to do. Then we decided to shoot some footage of other starlets who were milling around in the secretariat," Ria said.

"When I pointed the camera at Camelia, she lost control, pushed me and hit me several times with a mobile phone," he added.

"I cannot understand why she acted as she did," Ria said.

The bruised cameraman went off to the office of the Association of Indonesian Journalists, where he was advised to report the incident to the police.

The crew suspect that Camelia was unwilling to cooperate with them because of scandalous news printed about her in the Pos Kota daily recently.

In its July 23 edition the daily reported that Camelia obtained her house from a high ranking official a few years ago. It also claimed that she received hundreds of millions of rupiah from several entertainments projects.

Two hours after the crew reported her to the police, Camelia herself appeared at the city police headquarters with her lawyers from Yapto Soerjosoemarno & Associates in tow.

"I have come here to make a formal complaint about the baseless allegations printed about me in Pos Kota a few days ago," she said, adding that she planned to sue the daily.

She also said that she pushed the Buletin Sinetron cameraman because he had invaded her privacy.

"I told them no. I did not want to be interviewed. Why could they not leave me alone? I was only protecting myself," she said. (edt)