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Media, police told to protect raped journalist
The Alliance of Independent Journalist (AJI) Jakarta and the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) Jakarta) condemned the coverage of an alleged rape of a female journalist in Jakarta
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he Alliance of Independent Journalist (AJI) Jakarta and the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) Jakarta) condemned the coverage of an alleged rape of a female journalist in Jakarta.
'The media should not come to any conclusion before the police have thoroughly finished their investigation,' AJI Jakarta secretary Dian Yuliastuti said in a press statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
The female television journalist reported that she had been raped in an alley off Jl. Pramuka, East Jakarta, on the evening of June 20. However, after the police were unable to find any physical evidence
of rape.
The police also later discovered that she had been accompanied by her colleague ' with whom she admitted to have been in an extramarital relationship with for one year ' to the alley on the night of the reported incident.
According to a joint press statement from the AJI and LBH Jakarta, the media frenzy focused on the journalist's private life rather than the facts of the investigation.
The alliance, along with LBH Jakarta, called on the media to protect the victim by not revealing the journalist's identity or using weighted language when covering her story.
The statement also criticized the Jakarta Police for investigating the case through its crime division unit, rather than the women and child protection unit.
The institutions recommended that the police handle cases involving children and women much more carefully.
'The police must avoid violating the rights of children and women,' the statement said.
The police found conflicting information on the woman's statement when compared to her colleague, who said he did not know anything about the alleged rape. The police used these discrepancies to support the use of lie detector and psychology tests on the woman and her colleague.
In addition, LBH Jakarta lawyer Tommy Albert Tobing, who represents the journalist, said the police had forced the journalist to say the rape had never happened.
City police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said on Thursday that the tests were run because there were no witness.
'The tests were to find scientific evidence and facts,' he said. (ian/hrl)
