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PDI-P supporters vandalize TVOne office in Yogyakarta
Dozens of supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Yogyakarta, infuriated by a news report recently aired by TVOne that allegedly linked the party with communist groups, reportedly vandalized the television stationâs office building in Yogyakarta on Thursday
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ozens of supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Yogyakarta, infuriated by a news report recently aired by TVOne that allegedly linked the party with communist groups, reportedly vandalized the television station's office building in Yogyakarta on Thursday.
Allegedly, writings placed on the wall of the building by the group of protestors said that the PDI-P was not the 'Indonesian Communist Party (PKI)'.
'The TVOne's news coverage has inflicted damage upon the PDI-P and Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo's campaign,' Chang Wendriyanto, a member of the Yogyakarta Legislative Council (DPRD) from the PDI-P faction, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
He admitted that he and a number of supporters of the PDI-P and Jokowi came to the Yogyakarta chapter of TVOne's office building in Muja-Muju, Umbulharjo, Yogyakarta, at around 10 pm local time on Wednesday.
TVOne is a private television station belonging to business tycoon Aburizal Bakrie who supports candidate pair Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa.
The party's supporters burst into anger following a news report recently aired on the television station that connected the party with the Chinese Communist party. In the broadcast, it was reported that in 2012, the PDI-P sent a number of its members to learn about how to organize support at the grassroots level in China.
'At around 10 pm, around 50 supporters of the PDI-P Yogyakarta chapter raided the TVOne Yogyakarta office. They conducted their action for around one hour,' said Kasno, a Timoho regency security officer.
Allegedly, the party's supporters first held an oration before writing protests on the station's walls and spray-painting some 10 motorcycles parked in the office yard. They later put stickers emblazoned with pictures of candidate pair Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo and Jusuf Kalla on walls surrounding the building. The police cordoned off the location with a police line.
It was reported that no journalists were targeted in the incident. The station's coordinator, Hendrawan Setiawan, and other television crewmembers were covering an event in Banyumas, Central Java when the attack occurred.
Hendrawan said he had filed a report on the incident with the Yogyakarta Police. 'If they were disappointed with our coverage, they should have used the mechanism our Press Law regulates to voice their criticisms,' he said.
The police are investigating the case and will charge the PDI-P supporters with violations of the Criminal Code (KUHP) and the Press Law. (ebf)
