Dessy Sagita – Police in Palu, Central Sulawesi, have yet to name any suspects in last week's violent attack on the office of a journalists' association in apparent retribution for a critical article.
Members of a youth group on Thursday allegedly attacked the Palu office of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), assaulting four journalists and ransacking the building.
"A day after the attack, we marched to the police office and demanded they name suspects within 48 hours," the chairman of AJI Palu, Ridwan Lapasere, told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday.
He said the Palu Police chief, Adj. Sr. Comr. Deden Garnada, had promised the police would track down the assailants in less that 24 hours. "It's been three days now but the police say they still need more time and refuse to tell us when the investigation will be completed," he said.
Palu Police's chief of detectives, Darno, said nine people had been questioned but the investigation was ongoing and more people needed to be questioned before suspects could be named.
"The investigation was halted because of the New Year's celebration and some witnesses we summoned did not show up," he said. "I hope that the AJI can continue to be patient."
Darno said those questioned included the victims of the attack and members of the Kaili Youth Front (FPK), a youth organization that represents the indigenous ethnic group in Palu.
The victims have told police that the attackers, judging by the uniforms they were wearing belonged to the FPK.
Darno said more witnesses would be summoned today and police expected to name suspects soon. "It's not that easy to solve a case like this," he said. "The victims were unable to give a full description of the attackers."
As many as 30 young men are reported to have arrived at the AJI office in Palu at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, demanding to know the identity of a journalist who had written an article they said had been unfair to the FPK and its chairman, Erwin S.L. The AJI office is also the newsroom for the online news site beritapalu.com.
When they were unable to find out the name of the journalist, the men trashed the office and assaulted Ridwan, another AJI official, Muhammad Sharfin, and two other journalists who tried to stop the attack.
Ridwan and Sharfin said police officers had arrived at the office during the attack but failed to try and stop the assault.
"It's ironic, we are a professional organization focused on protecting journalists, but these people came to our office and attacked us," Ridwan said. "I'm sure this thuggery does not represent the whole Kaili community, it's just the act of some immature offenders."
The incident in Palu is only one in a string of recent attacks on journalists across the country. In August, television reporter Ridwan Salamun was killed during a clash between villagers in southeast Maluku. His death led to demonstrations and calls for greater protection for journalists.