Indonesia: Student reporter attacked by university chancellor

A student journalist was attacked and hit by the chancellor of State University of Makassar during the university’s 58th anniversary celebration. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Indonesia in condemning the attack.

Wahyudin -the one with the black bag- as he filed a report on the attack in the sub-district police in Rappocini, Makassar, South Sulawesi. Credit: Profesi

On July 31 the chancellor of the State University of Makassar in South Sulawesi, Husain Syam, hit the upper lip of Wahyudin, who is a reporter for the university press LPMProfession at an event celebrating the university’s 58th anniversary. The attack followed an argument concerning LPMProfession’s reportage on the number of students being admitted to the university via in-house entrance exams surpassing the maximum quota.

Husain also told Wahyudin to stop reporting on the student admission issue if he and the publication did not want to pick a fight with the university. The vice chancellor for academics Muharram also joined the argument, adding that the student publication was not following the regulation from the ministry of education. Wahyudin has since filed a police report.

In its statement the AJI urged the police to bring Husain to justice and to remind the authorities that everyone, including the chancellor, is all equal before the law. The AJI added that the authorities had a responsibility to ensure the safety of journalists.

The IFJ said: “We urge the Indonesian law enforcement to bring justice in light of the attack and intimidation Wahyudin faced. We stand with our affiliate AJI in condemning the attack and call on the authorities to maximise their efforts in ending the continuous attacks journalists face in the country.”

For further information contact IFJ Asia - Pacific on [email protected]

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 140 countries

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