6th June 2010. Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto has deplored Tuesday morning`s Molotov bomb attack on the Tempo magazine office building. "(We) deplore the irresponsible Molotov bomb attack on Tempo`s office building. The security authorities must find the perpetrator who deserves to be punished in accordance with the existing law," the minister said in a short-text message received by ANTARA News here Tuesday.
Whoever did the attack must face legal consequence, he said.
Unidentified persons threw three Molotov bombs at the "Tempo" magazine office building on Proklamasi street, central Jakarta, at 2.45 am Western Indonesian Standard Time (WIB) Tuesday. The magazine`s editor-in-chief, Wahyu Muryadi, said later two of the bombs exploded and one did not. "The perpetrators who rode on a motorbike from the eastern to western direction threw three Molotov bombs from outside the fence," he said.
The bombs did not cause any damage nor casualty because they landed in the building`s parking lot, he said. "The fire from the bombs was put out by the office`s security guards immediately," he said. The incident happened when the office was almost deserted as no printing process was going on.
Tempo reported the incident to the Jakarta Police and the Matraman Metro police sector for investigation. "About the motive, let us wait until the police officers find out. I really don`t know why someone should want to threw Molotov bombs at our office," he said. Earlier Tuesday, Chairman of the Press Council Bagir Manan also condemned the bomb attack on the Tempo Magazine office building.
"It doesn`t make sense that in the current democratic era where freedom of expression and press freedom are respected, there is still a party that chooses violence," Manan told ANTARA News. He urged the police to take appropriate action to solve the case in order to protect press freedom.(*)
