The People's Movement to Sue (Geram) which was attended by thousands of students from various campuses in Semarang City was marred by violence, when they held a demonstration in front of the Semarang City Hall and DPRD Building, Monday, August 26, 2024 afternoon.

In the demonstration titled “Central Java Moves; Bring Jokowi to Justice and Bring Down”, a campus journalist was allegedly subjected to violence by police officers.

A student journalist at a state campus in Semarang City with the initials RAA (20) experienced violence from officers while covering the action. It started when he was looking for a strategic position to take pictures from above the gate.

He explained that when he was taking photos, suddenly the protesters from outside the building pushed the entrance gate of the Semarang DPRD. To be safe, he then joined the other journalists who were inside the building.

Unfortunately, the police officer thought she was part of the protesters. Her bag was pulled until it fell. In that position, RAA received various acts of violence from the police.

"When the crowd pushed the gate, I joined the journalists who were inside the building, then the police pulled my bag and I fell," he said.

He admitted that when he fell, he was surrounded by a number of police officers. His neck was pinched. Not only that, even his back and other body parts were also hit and kicked many times.

"I was pulled to the side by a policeman and then my neck was pinched, then I was hit and kicked repeatedly. Finally, other media friends said that 'this is a journalist from the student press' and then I was released," said RAA.

Due to this incident, he admitted that his back felt sore after being hit by the officers. After that, he was invited by other journalists to take a break in the Semarang City DPRD media center room.

Responding to the incident, the Head of the Alliance of Indonesian Journalists (AJI) of Semarang City, Aris Mulyawan, condemned the repressive actions of the police against journalists who were covering the action. According to him, the press is the fourth pillar of democracy and journalistic work is protected by law.

"We ask the police not to take repressive action against students who speak out for truth and justice in this country," he said.

He said, in the previous action, police officers also committed violence against a campus journalist in front of the Central Java DPRD Building on Thursday, August 22, 2024.

"This clearly violates Law Number 40 of 1999, where Article 18 states that obstructing journalists from reporting is subject to criminal penalties," said Aris Mulyawan.