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INDONESIA: 'Metro Bogor' attacked

Monday, January 5, 2004

Intimidation of the press took place on Saturday when around 20 unidentified men arrived at the Metro Bogor daily's office at the Agrikon building on Jl. Siliwangi, Bogor, at around 3 p.m.

They were looking for the daily's chief editor, Alfian Mujani, who, at the time, was in a meeting in Purwakarta, West Java. The men demanded a marketing staffer of the daily, Suparno, give them Alfian's cell phone number.

"About 500 of us make a living from gambling. Where's your boss," one of the men yelled at Suparno.

When he refused to give the number, one of the men grabbed Suparno's cell phone and found it.

"Don't even try to lie to us ... or we'll burn this office down," said the man, later hitting Suparno, who suffered bruising to his right temple.

Office security guards approached but the men had just left the site.

A journalist from Metro Bogor, Untung Kurniadi, accompanied Suparno to file a report on the incident with Bogor Police. Untung also contacted Bogor Police chief Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam and requested protection of the daily's office and its employees.

Untung said, as reported by Antara, that the daily had been reporting gambling activities in Bogor city in its Jan. 2 and Jan. 3 editions. He alleged that the unidentified men made a profit from gambling and were angered by the daily's coverage of it.

"Gambling is an illegal activity in this country. It's perfectly understandable if we report on it," he said.

Police are still investigating the case but so far no one has been arrested.

Date Posted: 1/5/2004