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‘Tape the good side, not the bad side!’: Journalists intimidated, assaulted while covering 212 prayer

A journalist with CNN Indonesia TV claimed he was scolded by the mob, who asked him, “What media are you from? How much do they pay you?”

Gisela Swaragita (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Fri, February 22, 2019

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‘Tape the good side, not the bad side!’: Journalists intimidated, assaulted while covering 212 prayer  Supporters of the 212 Rally stage a protest in a show of support for its head, Slamet Ma'arif, who was questioned by the Surakarta Police for allegedly violating the Election Law at the police headquarters on Thursday. (JP/Ganug Nugroho Adi)

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group of journalists claim to have been intimidated and assaulted by members of an Islamist group while covering the 212 Munajat prayer event at the National Monument (Monas) in Central Jakarta on Thursday night.    

According to the Jakarta Chapter of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), the incident started at around 9 p.m. when commotion ensued in the middle of the prayer, reportedly triggered by the arrest of a pickpocket.

Journalists on the scene immediately recorded the incident and apparently angered a group of people who had asked them to delete the videos and pictures they had taken over concerns that the reporting would paint a bad light on a supposedly religious event.

A journalist with CNN Indonesia TV claimed that he was scolded by the group, who had asked him, “What media are you from? How much do they pay you?” and then told him, “Tape the good side, not the bad side!”

“The camera of the CNN Indonesia TV journalist was conspicuous enough that he was chased by a number of people,” AJI said in a statement released on Friday.

A journalist from Detik.com was taken to a VIP tent and forced to delete the videos and pictures he took with his cell phone. AJI said the journalist was beaten and clawed and even forced to squat in front of dozens of people.

“They then seized his cellphone and deleted all photos and videos on it. They also uninstalled WhatsApp in the phone to prevent him from contacting people,” AJI said.

212 Alumni Association (PA 212) spokesman Novel Bamukmin claimed that what happened was merely a misunderstanding and had nothing to do with the participants of the prayer gathering.

“There was a pickpocket. The [paramilitary groups] saw the incident and decided to seize the perpetrator,” he said.

"Journalists should have avoided such a situation. They were thought to be with the pickpockets. They were released that night,” he added.

Novel said many groups were involved in “securing” the journalists, including the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) and the 212 brigade.

“We condemn the intimidation and violence carried out by the FPI crowd toward journalists who were reporting on Munajat 212. We also want the police to arrest the perpetrators and put them on trial so that similar cases do not happen again,” AJI said.

The 1999 Press Law protects journalists while doing their job and criminalizes those obstructing them. Thursday’s incident is the latest in a series of incidents of violence against journalists in recent years, according to AJI.

The 212 movement is linked to the massive sectarian rally on Dec. 2, 2016 staged to demand the prosecution of then-Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama for his controversial statement regarding a Quranic verse.

The movement claimed to be politically neutral though it has been seen as an antigovernment group and many of its members are supporters of opposition leader Prabowo Subianto.  

 

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