Journalis for Jatimnow.com Misbahul Munir and journalist for Blokbojonegoro.com Mohammad Rizky were assaulted by a group of youths from the Setia Hati Terate Brotherhood silat school in Bojonegoro, East Java, on Thursday 5 January 2023.
That Thursday night, the two victims were covering a motorcycle convoy from the silat school community in Bojonegoro. Participants in the motorcycle convoy passed East of the Adipura Roundabout, Jl Gajah Mada Bojonegoro. The community recently held a demonstration at the Kalitidu Police Headquarters, because their fellow community members experienced persecution from different schools.
Munir and Rizky who were present at the Adipura Roundabout, Bojonegoro, recorded the action of the convoy and saw the convoy stop for a while. The convoy participants allegedly looted a shop and damaged the house of a resident, before continuing their journey. When the convoy participants started walking, they waved to their colleagues.
At around 22.00 PM, when the convoy participants were about to continue their journey, the two journalists were still recording their actions. One of the convoy participants saw the action being recorded. “Report recording, delete, delete !” he said. Munir and Rizky and then stopped recording and withdrew from their original position to the side of the road. The provocateur was initially suspicious of Munir and Rizky, from a different silat school, who were their competitors.
Dozens of other convoy participants also stopped and walked towards Munir. They started to gang up and kick Munir together. Munir, who used a press card and claimed to be a journalist, was still persecuted. While Rizky, who was wearing his media uniform at that time, also received blows from dozens of anarchist masses.
The two victims were then rescued by a television journalist who was also at the location, until dozens of the motorbike convoy participants returned home. Both victims reported the abuse to the local police.