Prajurit TNI-AU Diduga Aniaya Wartawan di Palembang
Air Force Officer Allegedly Assault Journalist in Palembang
Reporter : Roni Said
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Parulian Manalu
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Jakarta (B2B) - Prajurit TNI-AU diduga melakukan kekerasan terhadap wartawan foto Sumatra Ekspress, Kris Samiaji ketika meliput desa yang menggelar protes terhadap penggusuran dekat kawasan bandara Mahmud Badaruddin II, Palembang, Sumatera Selatan, Rabu.
Kris mengatakan dia dipukul oleh 10 prajurit ketika ia mencoba untuk memotret petugas yang sedang menghalau warga.
"Mereka menyita kamera dan memukul wajah saya termasuk di rusuk kanan," katanya.
Dia telah melaporkan kejadian tersebut kepada Polisi Militer di Palembang.
Komandan Pangkalan Palembang, Letkol Adam Suharto menyanggah laporan tersebut seraya mengatakan bahwa "jika ada penganiayaan, saya yakin itu hanya insiden."
Adam mengatakan dia siap untuk bertemu dan membicarakan hal itu dengan wartawan untuk menuntaskan insiden tersebut.
Warga desa di Kecamatan Sukarame, Palembang, berusaha memblokade jalan ke bandara sebagai protes terhadap langkah TNI-AU yang menggusur rumah penduduk di sekitar lapangan terbang. TNI-AU berencana mengubah lapangan terbang menjadi lapangan golf.
Insiden semacam itu tidak pernah terjadi sebelumnya. Penganiayaan sebelumnya terhadap beberapa wartawan terjadi setelah kecelakaan pesawat jet Hawk 200 milik TNI-AU di Kampar, Pekanbaru. Wartawan yang meliput kecelakaan tersebut dipukuli oleh prajurit TNI-AU dan kamera mereka disita.
Jakarta (B2B) - Air Force officers allegedly assaulted Sumatra Ekspress photo journalist Kris Samiaji while covering villagers who staged a protest against eviction near the Mahmud Badaruddin II airport in Palembang, South Sumatra, on Wednesday.
Kris said he was hit by 10 officers when he tried to take pictures of officers who were beating the villagers. “They seized my camera and hit my face and my right ribs,” he said.
He had reported the incident to the Palembang Military Police, he added.
Palembang Air Base commander Lt. Col. Adam Suharto denied the report, saying that “if there was an assault, I believe that was an accident.”
Adam said he was ready to meet and have a discussion with the reporter to resolve the incident.
Villagers in Sukarame subdistrict, Palembang, attempted to blockade the road to the airport in protest against a move by the Air Force that evicted locals’ houses around the airfield. The Air Force planned to convert the airfield into a golf course.
Such an incident is not unprecedented. Last month's attack against several journalists occurred after the crash of an Indonesian Air Force Hawk 200 jet in Kampar, Pekanbaru. Journalists covering the event were beaten by Air Force officers and their cameras were confiscated.
