JakartaPost-Aug 7
The Jakarta chapter of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI Jakarta) condemned the alleged intimidation of a Tempo journalist and weekly podcast host in Jakarta and urged the police to prosecute the perpetrators. The incident occurred at 9:50 p.m. on Jl. Pattimura between the National Police headquarters and the Public Works and Housing Ministry in South Jakarta as the journalist, Hussein Abri Dongoran, was on his way home after meeting with a source in a mall in the municipality. When making a U-turn toward the flyover at Jl. Pangeran Antasari, Hussein heard a hard thud coming from behind his car. He looked in the mirror and saw two people riding on a motorcycle and no other vehicles. The journalist then parked his car to check and found a section of the car’s rear window had been smashed. Hussein, accompanied by attorneys representing Tempo, reported the incident to the South Jakarta Police on Tuesday. Hussein is a journalist covering politics for Tempo magazine and is frequently involved in investigative reports on the countries’ political landscape or stories pertaining to high-profile political figures. He also hosts the publication’s weekly podcast called Bocor Alus Politik (Fine Leak Politics) that covers the magazine’s cover story on Saturday, a day before the magazine’s publication. The Bocor Alus Politik episode broadcast on Aug. 2, as well as Tempo’s cover story the next day, was about the feud between President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chair Megawati Soekarnoputri. Watchdog Pressure on freedom of the press in Indonesia has been high in the past few years, as cases of journalists being assaulted or murdered have risen across the country. According to the national AJI’s data, at least 87 attacks against journalists were recorded last year; the highest on the alliance’s record. Read more at:
