Indonesia

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The Jakarta Independent Journalist Alliance (AJI) has urged the East Jakarta precinct to arrest the perpetrators who assaulted six journalists covering a fire at Pedongkelan, Kayu Putih, in East Jakarta on Sunday, March 17.

“Immediately arrest the assaulters and declare them suspects,” said Jakarta AJI chairman Umar Idris on Monday evening, March 18.

Umar added that violence against journalists on duty could not be justified. “Such violence does not only inflict physical harm but threatens freedom of the press as well,” said the chairman.

MANILA, Philippines (5TH UPDATE) - As of 5 pm. (Philippine time), Yonhap updated its reports with information from the South Korean government, with the government pointing to malicious code from unknown hackers causing computer network failures at a number of television stations, banks, and insurance firms on Wednesday, March 20.

According to the update, the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), and Yonhap Television News (YTN), the Shinhan, Nonghyup and Jeju banks, and two insurance firms reported the halting of their computer networks for unknown reasons to the National Police Agency. Another bank, Woori Bank, also came under an apparent attack but was able to defend itself using an internal system.

Thailand

4 senators say 'Tob Jote' offensive to monarchy

A sub-committee of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has been given another two weeks to probe whether Thai PBS's station director had the authority to pull political talk programme Tob Jote off the air - as the station broadcast the fifth part on Monday night without notice.

The NBTC's broadcasting committee also handed the sub-committee two more weeks to probe a similar case of self-censorship by Channel 3 of its political soap opera Nua Mek 2.

Thailand

King's Guard did not kill civilians, witness says

A French journalist insisted Monday that a military unit which he followed during the army's crackdown on red-shirt protesters in 2010 was not responsible for the deaths of six people at Wat Pathumwanaram.

Olivier Rotrou, 48, owner of Line Press photography company in France, has returned to Thailand to testify on March 28 at an inquest into the temple deaths.