A 27-year-old reporter from Radar Bekasi, Randi Yasetiawan, alleges that he was beaten up by thugs as a message from a party politician.

“It happened yesterday. There’s a politician who called me and invited me to meet at 5 pm in a restaurant,” Randi said today as quoted by Kompas.

Randi said his meeting with the politician had to do with a story published by Radar Bekasi on Tuesday, February 17. Upon arriving at the restaurant, Randi and the politician talked about the article.

Apparently there were some things in the article that this particular politician really didn’t like. While the two sat in the restaurant discussing the story, suddenly two men wearing masks appeared and started hitting Randi in the face repeatedly. Randi says he was tortured for about 15 minutes.

“Then he asked for my ID card. He said he had noted my home address, so that I don’t try to do anything,” the reporter said.

While getting beaten, the two assailants also ordered Randi to immediately make a “correction” to his previously published article. Randi says the politician just sat watching while the assault took place before finally warning him that if his story wasn’t corrected he would be “finished.”

Not cowed even after his beating, Randi immediately reported the incident to the Bekasi City Police. He also went to Bekasi District General Hospital for treatment.

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