They highlighted the fact that those involved in physical violence and intimidation on working journalists in Lampung Province were seldom brought to court.
According to the rally's coordinator Padli Ramdan from The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), there have been five cases of physical violence and intimidation on journalists in Lampung over the past two years.
World Press Day was a good moment for all elements of society, including security personnel, to conduct a self-introspection, so that all acts of violence and intimidation on working journalists could be stopped, he said.
The law enforcers were expected to adopt Indonesia's Press Law to handle cases of violence and intimidation on journalists in the future, he added.
Regarding the 2019 World Press Day, UNESCO revealed that its main celebration took place in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, from May 1 to 3, during which multiple actors exchanged views and perspectives on current issues, threats and achievements concerning the freedom of the press.
According to UNESCO, the overall theme of the event highlighted the role of the media during elections and democracy. A wide range of sessions (plenaries, debates, lightning talks, etc) addressed different aspects of the overall theme.
Some 100 national events around the world were expected to complement the main celebration.
On 2nd May, the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize was awarded to an individual or organization that had made an outstanding contribution to the freedom of the press.
As revealed on UNESCO's official website, an academic conference on the safety of journalists was held to facilitate researchers from different disciplines to share and discuss recent research.