Journalist Solidarity Rally to Protest Yogyakarta's Petrol Bomb-Hurling Incident

Yogyakarta (Antara) - A solidarity rally was organized here on Tuesday as a mark of protest against the petrol bomb-throwing incident at Radar Jogja daily journalist Frietqi Suyawan's house on early Monday. Several media workers participated in an Anti-Violent Journalist Solidarity rally to condemn those who had committed the crime, emphasizing that journalism was a respectable profession that aims to fight for justice. "Therefore, we urge the police to take immediate action in the case and reveal the culprits in order to stop any form of violence and terror against journalists," stated rally coordinator Bagus Kurniawan. Early Monday, several unidentified men hurled three Molotov cocktail bombs at Suyawan's house in the city of Magelang, burning a chair inside the veranda. Contemplating that the terror might be related to Suyawan's profession, Kurniawan urged those who were infuriated by media reports to adopt peaceful means to seek clarification from the media. "If media reports-related disputes happen, the parties can use a resolution mechanism, facilitated by the Indonesian Press Council. Please don't resort to acts of violence, terror, or intimidation to solve your disputes," he emphasized. Meanwhile, a member of Gorontalo city's legislative assembly had threatened to slap Derby Haryati Mano, a female journalist working for the Antara News Agency, after being enraged by her news report. Advocacy Coordinator of the Gorontalo-Based Alliance of Independent Journalists' (AJI) Christopel Paino detested the threatening behavior exhibited by Tarjun Ilahude of the Golkar Party on Debby. Debby Mano was doing her routine job of reporting about an open plenary session of Gorontalo city's legislative assembly, which discussed about alleged misconduct in the civil servant recruitment process, he explained. Reported by Luqman Hakim and Wahiyudin Mamonto (*)