The 2009 Udin Award recipient was elected, along with noted lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis, Deputy Chief of the Press Council Bambang Harimurti, Director of the Legal Aid Institute for the Press (LBH Pers) Hendrayana and representative of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Asep Komaruddin to represent Indonesia in the conference.
"The conference will be the third of its kind and be attended by lawyers, practitioners and activists from all countries in Southeast Asia who have so far been active in protecting the press," Upi said here on Sunday.
He expressed hope the event would make press practitioners more aware of the threat to the media and inform them of how to protect the media against the threat and the system of minimizing potential threat.
He noted that violence against journalists in the eastern part of Indonesia tended to increase in the past couple of years. In 2011 alone, an average of one journalist fell victim to violent act per month.
He said the public`s, mass organizations` and government institutions` poor understanding of the press was to blame for violence against journalists.
In general, the violent acts were caused by dissatisfaction of news reports, journalists` poor knowledge of code of ethics, and weak protection of journalists, he said.
"Judging from the phenomenon, violence against journalists will remain in 2011," he said. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
