TEMPO.CO, Pekanbaru - Police and students involved in a clash on Saturday, December 5, 2015, in front of Gedung Gelanggang Remaja, Pekanbaru, Riau, where the 29th congress of the Indonesian Islamic students was held.
Riau Online journalist Zuhdi Febriyanto was beaten by police and suffered heavy head injury. Police allegedly beat Zuhdi since the officers did not want to be recorded when beating students.
“The police were upset when his picture was taken during the clash,” other journalist Ratna Sari Dewi said on Saturday, December 5, 2015.
Ratna could not confirm the reason that triggered the clash between students and police. Another journalist Adrian Syarif said that Zuhdi had shown his ID card, but police continued to beat him for insisting on keeping his cellphone used to take the picture.
“They demanded journalists to erase the pictures,” he said.
Zuhdi was later taken to a hospital after he went unconscious with bleeding head.
Riau Online editor in chief Fakhrurrodzi deplored the incident, saying that he would take a legal action to settle the case. Fakhrrurdzi added that he would file a lawsuit with the Pekan Baru Press Legal Aid Organization and the Indonesia Journalists Association (PWI).
“We condemn the police act. We will take a legal action agaist it,” he said.
RIYAN NOFITRA
