Indah Setiawati, Jakarta – Tanah Abang Police sub-precinct chief Comr. Hendra Gunawan promised to investigate the case of a journalist, who on Wednesday was showered in glass bottles while covering a raid in Petamburan, Central Jakarta.

"We have gathered information from three victims and three witnesses, but we have not identified any suspects yet," he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday. Hendra refused to state that the perpetrators were members of the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI).

Journalist from local daily Lampu Hijau, Octobryan Purwo, 25, was attacked by a group of men wearing turbans last Wednesday, when photographing them raiding a stall selling beverages. The police brought him to the nearby hospital, where he got seven stitches on his head.

Margiyono from the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) urged the police to act swiftly. He cited the 1999 Press Law, which carries as a maximum one year of imprisonment and a fine of Rp 1 billion (US$104,000) for deterring journalists from covering news.

In May alone, AJI received four reports on journalists being attacked in the country.

Meanwhile, FPI chairman Salim bin Umar Alatas, said he planned to call the FPI troop commander Matsuni to ask whether their members were involved in the assault. He suspected the raid was undertaken by Muslim youths wearing FPI garb, because the organization had not scheduled any raid that day.

"If it turns out the perpetrators are our members, on behalf of the organization I apologize. The police can catch the suspects," he told the Post.

Late in April, FPI added to its violent track record by storming a human rights workshop jointly organized by the National Commission for Human Rights and the Indonesian Transgender Communication Forum, at a hotel in Depok, West Java.

The workshop was about to start when the members rushed the doors, shouting the name of God and destroying hotel property.