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Police urged to take action against Biak Numfor regent
Around 70 journalists from various print and electronic media outlets in Papua on Monday staged a rally at the Imbi Park in Jayapura, urging the police to take action against Biak Numfor Regent Thomas Ondi for allegedly beating Fiktor Pekambanfan, a journalist with the Cendrawasih Pos newspaper in Biak
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round 70 journalists from various print and electronic media outlets in Papua on Monday staged a rally at the Imbi Park in Jayapura, urging the police to take action against Biak Numfor Regent Thomas Ondi for allegedly beating Fiktor Pekambanfan, a journalist with the Cendrawasih Pos newspaper in Biak.
'We urge the police to investigate the beating of Fiktor completely and the investigation of the case should be transferred from the Biak Police to the Papua Police,' said Isak Womsiwor, one of protesters, during the rally on Monday.
The incident, which occurred at the Ridge Study Studio in Samofa district, Biak, on Saturday, left Fiktor with bruises on his face.
Speaking to The Jakarta Post on Monday, Fiktor said the incident was triggered by an article on a fire that engulfed the Biak Market he wrote and published in the Cenderawasih Pos' Saturday edition.
'I thought Regent Ondi was just kidding. I had attempted to avoid his punches but he kept punching me in my mouth. I felt five punches,' he said.
The regent was reportedly angry because in his article, Fiktor did not mention the efforts conducted by Biak authorities to extinguish the fire.
'The article was focused on the incident; therefore, we did not write about efforts conducted by the local authorities. This was not because we purportedly aimed to cover up their efforts but it's simply because we wanted to focus our article on the fire itself,' Cenderawasih Pos editor-in-chief Yonathan Randabunga said.
'This is why we want the Papua Police to handle this case because it would be difficult for the Biak Police to process this case as it involves the top figure in the regency,' he said. (ebf)(+++)
