(AJI/IFEX) – The following is a letter to National Police Chief General Da’i Bachtiar by the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), of which AJI is a member: His Excellency General (Police) Da’i Bachtiar National Police Chief Jl. Trunojoyo No. 3. Jakarta Selatan, Indonesia Via Fax: 62-21-7207277 Your Excellency, The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) is […]
(AJI/IFEX) – The following is a letter to National Police Chief General Da’i Bachtiar by the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), of which AJI is a member:
His Excellency General (Police) Da’i Bachtiar
National Police Chief
Jl. Trunojoyo No. 3. Jakarta Selatan, Indonesia
Via Fax: 62-21-7207277
Your Excellency,
The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) is deeply disturbed by the continuous abuse of power by police during the first month of 2002. In the third police assault this month, officers ransacked the daily Waspada’s offices in Medan, North Sumatra, on January 23, 2002. They destroyed office equipment and injured reporter Setia Budi Siregar, as they chased a suspected gang member.
Local journalists said the incident started as riot police tried to disperse a gang brawl near the daily Waspada’s office. They fired warning shots and the crowd, including gang members, dispersed. Waspada’s janitor was standing close by watching the incident unfold. He too ran into the Waspada building for cover. A number of police officers saw the janitor running away and assumed he was a gang member. Officers then followed him into the building, accosted Waspada’s security guard and headed up to the third level where 40 employees were working in the newsroom.
Eyewitnesses said the officers were enraged.
“There were five of them, four in uniform, one in plainclothes,” afternoon news reporter Zeini Zein told online media Detik.com. “They were brutal, yelling and throwing objects all over the room.”
The officers also punched sports writer Setia Budi Siregar as he was about to file his story. The journalist repeatedly told his attackers that he works for Waspada, but they kept on assaulting him. The officers eventually stopped after Siregar managed to show his press card.
The attack on the office finally ended after police found the janitor and realised that he was not involved in the gang riot.
The newspaper filed a complaint, the next day (January 24), at the Medan police headquarters. Deputy Chief Ishak Robinson Sampe apologised but refused to detain his men or put them on trial.
This was the second attack on Waspada since January 13 last year, when members of the Communication Forum for Young Generation ABRI (FKPPI) crashed a minivan into the office compound, protesting a story that had been published on the group.
The attack in Medan was the third police assault this month. The first incident of police brutality occurred on January 3, when plainclothes officers punched and kicked two Metro reporters in Bandung, West Java. The journalists were reporting on a gang fight when police officers, knowing they were from the press, assaulted them.
The second police attack occurred in Kediri, East Java, on January 8, when Radio Suara Andika reporter Tantowi Jauhari was assaulted by police officer Bagus Setiawan during a random motor vehicle check. After the journalist was cleared, he saw another motorbike rider being punched by an officer. He questioned officer Setiawan, but the officer responded with a series of punches. As the journalist lay wounded – with injuries to his left eye, forehead and nose – Setiawan asked for his ID and found out he was a journalist. Suddenly the officer’s attitude changed drastically. He gave his handkerchief to the reporter so he could wipe off the blood. Officer Setiawan took the journalist to the hospital and told the doctors that Tantowi had been wounded falling off his motorbike.
SEAPA is very disappointed with the Medan police for not upholding justice in connection with an incident where its members clearly abused their authority. As an organisation dedicated to the protection and promotion of press freedom, SEAPA demands that the Medan police bring the five officers to justice and stop its brutal use of force. This appeal is also made to the Bandung and Kediri police forces. SEAPA also demands that Indonesian police, in general, act more responsibly in upholding justice, especially when the perpetrators are part of the police force. SEAPA would like to remind you that, along with other press institutions and organisations worldwide, we have been monitoring police violence for years, and we have found that the Indonesian police have rarely acted as an institution which upholds law and order. If there is no attempt whatsoever by the Indonesian Police to rectify this, not only would you be destroying press freedom, but also your credibility.
Respectfully yours,
Lukas Luwarso
Director of SEAPA Jakarta
Solahudin
Advocacy Coordinator
Recommended Action
Similar appeals can be sent to:
His Excellency General (Police) Da’i Bachtiar
National Police Chief
Jl. Trunojoyo No. 3. Jakarta Selatan, Indonesia
Fax: +62 21 7207277
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