Palembang – Student protesters who are members of student organisations including the Cipayung groups, such as the Indonesian National Students Movement (GMNI), the Muhammadiyah Students Association (IMM) and the Indonesian Muslim Students Action Front (KAMMI), as well as other student organisations, held a protest action in front of the South Sumatra Regional Police (Polda Sumsel) offices on Tuesday October 13.
During the action, the students urged the police to thoroughly investigate the alleged forest and land fires (karhutla), including holding the corporations suspected of being involved accountable from the management level and company leadership.
The action, which took place at around 1 pm local time, also highlighted 12 corporations which were said to have been sealed off by the Ministry of the Environment and 16 corporations which were said to be in the process of being investigated by the South Sumatra Regional Police.
The students pushed for developments in handling cases against corporations be conveyed openly to the public. They also asked the government to ensure environmental restoration in areas affected by karhutla.
The protesters gave the relevant parties a 7 x 24 hour deadline to follow up on these demands. If there was no follow-up, the students threatened to hold another demonstration.
However, in the midst of this action, chaos broke out when a mass of students wanted to start giving speeches at the second gate into the South Sumatra Regional Police. A number of journalists who were carrying out reporting duties claimed to have been intimidated when trying to document the incident.
Based on information from one of the journalists, Mulyadi, while reporting at the location, there was a riot involving students and unknown individuals (OTK) wearing black clothes who had previously distributed masks at the door of the South Sumatra Regional Police.
The chaos was then said to have spread from South Sumatra Regional Police second gate to the red light area. In this situation, a number of journalists admitted that they were asked to delete footage of the riot. Moreover it is said that Mulyadi's cell phone was almost confiscated.
"We at the time were covering the riots, but instead we were intimidated, told to delete the video, our cell phones were almost confiscated", said Mulyadi.
He said he had explained to the group that he and his colleagues were journalists carrying out journalistic duties. However, according to his testimony, intimidation still occurred.
"I told them that we were journalists. But we were still intimidated and scolded", he said.
Mulyadi said there were more than five people in the black-shirted group. However, he admitted that he did not know their identity or the organisation that controlled them.
During the incident, another journalist named Rahmat was said to have also been affected. Mulyadi said he tried to help Rahmat and his colleague, Viola, when the situation at the location became increasingly heated.
According to Mulyadi, Rahmat was accused of being a provocateur. However, he denied the accusation and said Rahmat was carrying out reporting duties. Meanwhile, Viola is said to be broadcasting live via Facebook.
"Viola is live on Facebook, working, and I'm also reporting", said Mulyadi.
Mulyadi also said that his they had asked for help from intelligence officers who were at the location. However, based on his statement, the intimidation of reporters still took place.
As of this news being published, the identity of the black-shirted group and the alleged intimidation of journalists had not been independently confirmed.
Confirmation from the South Sumatra Regional Police and other related parties is still needed to obtain an explanation regarding the chronology of the riots and alleged intimidation of the journalist.
– The information above was written by an Internship Student at the Raden Fatah Palembang State Islamic University (UIN)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Mahasiswa Desak Polda Sumsel Usut Tuntas Karhutla, Justru Wartawan Mengaku Dapat Intimidasi".]
