Jakarta – Two journalists were injured when a group of men attacked their newsroom in Palu, Central Sulawesi, on Thursday.

According to a release by the Alliance of Independent Journalists, a group of 30 men from the Kaili Youth Front (FPK) attacked the alliance's Palu office at 10.30 a.m. The office is also the newsroom of online news site beritapalu.com.

They damaged the office and assaulted the chairman of Palu's AJI, Ridwan Lapasere, and another AJI official, Muhammad Sharfin. The two men said police were present during the attack but were unable to do anything.

The mob attacked the journalists over a story about a youth organization published on beritapalu.com. The group of men were angry over what they felt was unfair coverage of one of the organization's officials, Erwin SL.

"When I was about to explain the content of the news story to them, somebody smashed something to the floor and the rest of the group began damaging the office," Ridwan said.

Ridwan and Sharfin both suffered head injuries from the beating.

"We have reported the attack to the police. They have to arrest the perpetrators because it's a criminal offense," Ridwan said. "The case must be investigated thoroughly so everyone can learn a lesson," he said.

It was only one in a string of violent attacks against journalists in Indonesia this year. In August, the death of TV journalist Ridwan Salamun during a clash between villagers in Tual, Maluku, led to demonstrations and calls for greater protection for journalists.

Ridwan, a contributor for Jakarta-based Sun TV, was killed while covering a clash between residents of Banda Eli and Mangun, a hamlet in Fiditan village, in Tual, Southeast Maluku.

His death sparked nation-wide calls for better protection of journalists. In Bali, a group of 70 journalists marked Ridwan's death by staging a demonstration of solidarity in Denpasar, while a similar rally was held in Jakarta by members of a journalist forum. (JG & Antara)