Soldier Athlete Attacks Papuan Journalist
By Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post
JAYAPURA, Papua (JP Online/Pacific Media Watch): Dozens of journalists here on Friday condemned an attack on fellow
reporter Irwanto by a national athlete in Indonesia's Papua province, and urged the attacker to be dealt with firmly.
The protesters staged a rally at the Papua office of Indonesia's National Sports Council (KONI) and demanded that the
athlete be arrested and taken to court.
Irwanto, who works for the Cendrawasih Pos daily, was beaten on Wednesday by Ismail Sroyer, who is a discus thrower as
well as an Army soldier, at the KONI office in the provincial capital of Jayapura.
Ismail suddenly attacked Irwanto when the reporter was covering a training session held by local discus throwers,
injuring Irwanto him the face and head.
Irwanto reported the case to KONI Papua executive chairman Koos Urbinas, who asked the two to settle the matter
amicably.
But minutes after Koos left his room, Ismail again attacked Irwanto, kicking him and hitting him in the face, head and
arms.
The attack was allegedly triggered by an article written by Irwanto and published in the Cendrawasih Pos on an attempted
rape case involving a youth at Mandala Field, which hosts athletes training as part of National Sports Week. Shortly
after the report's publication, Jayapura Police arrested a man over attempted rape.
Although the article did not mention any names, Ismail was apparently offended by the report, as it identified the
location where the attempted rape occurred.
Cendrawasih Pos chief editor Joko Suhendro slammed the beating as an "arrogant act" that belittled the journalistic
profession.
Ismail may be charged with Article 351 of the Criminal Code on assault, according to the newspaper's lawyer Hendrik
Tomasoa.
Harsh criticisms were also issued by Frits Ramandey of the Papua branch of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI)
and Usman Fakaubun of the local Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI).
Koos, who received the protesting journalists, said he had left the matter in the hands of legal authorities and hoped
the incident would not damage ties between athletes and journalists in Papua. He said the case was being handled by the
Trikora military police command in Jayapura.
However, when the journalists tried to seek confirmation about the legal process from Trikora spokesman Col. Rustaman
Henry Pramono, about 10 soldiers blocked them from entering Rustaman's office. The move drew the attention from Muslims
on their way to a nearby mosque for Friday prayers and caused a traffic jam.
"Don't stage a demonstration at the military office headquarters," a soldier yelled at the journalists.
In the end, the Trikora command representatives allowed only two of the journalists were to meet Trikora
representatives.
+++niuswire
PACIFIC MEDIA WATCH ONLINE http://www.pmw.c2o.org
PACIFIC MEDIA WATCH is an independent, non-profit, non-government organisation comprising journalists, lawyers, editors
and other media workers, dedicated to examining issues of ethics, accountability, censorship, media freedom and media
ownership in the Pacific region. Launched in October 1996, it has links with the Journalism Program at the University of
the South Pacific, Bushfire Media based in Sydney, Journalism Studies at the University of PNG (UPNG), the Australian
Centre for Independent Journalism (ACIJ), Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, and Community Communications
Online (c2o).
(c)1996-2004 Copyright - All rights reserved.