Mela Arnani – Every year February 9 is commemorated as National Press Day which, it is hoped, will be an impetus to improve press freedom in Indonesia.
Press freedom in Indonesia however is in reality still restricted. One of the ways this can be seen is from the cases of journalists in Indonesia who, as a consequence of their reporting hurt certain parties and were subsequently killed.
The following are 10 cases of journalists who have been killed in Indonesia:
1. Herliyanto
Herliyanto, a freelance journalist with the Sidoarjo Delta Post, was found dead on April 29, 2006 in a teak forest in the village of Taroka in Probolinggo, East Java.
The May 10, 2013 Kompas daily reported that police confirmed that the Radar Surabaya freelance reporter’s death was linked to a report on a corruption case involving a development budget by the former Tulupari Village head.
Three people were arrested although the Sidoarjo District Court released all three defendants because it found that there was insufficient evidence against two of the perpetrators and a third was declared insane.
2. Ardiansyah Matra’is Wibisono
Wibisono was a Tabloid Jubi and Merauke TV journalist in West Papua. He was found dead on July 29, 2010 in the Arang Building at Maro River, Marauke, and had sustained injuries all over his body.
A Kompas daily report said that the Marauke district police were convinced that the journalist drowned. Police did not pursue the investigation.
3. Naimullah
Naimullah worked as a journalist with the Sinar Pagi newspaper in West Kalimantan. He was killed on July 25, 1997.
According to a Kompas daily report on July 28, 1997 Naimullah was found dead in his Isuzu Challenger car which was parked at Penimbungan Beach in Mempawah, Pontianak, West Kalimantan.
It is suspected that he was assaulted because the rear part of his head and temple were fractured and his two hands suffered bruising. When his body was found, his camera, tape recorder, wristwatch, gold bracelet and ring were missing.
It was reported that on the afternoon before being found dead he had told his family that he would meet with an unidentified person although he did not provide any further information.
4. Alfrets Mirulewan
Mirulewan was found dead on August 18, 2010 at the Kisar Island port in West Maluku Tenggara. The Tabloid Pelangi chief editor was conducting an investigation into the scarcely of fuel in Kisar along with Leksi Kikilay.
It was reported that security forces were allegedly involved in his death. Although police found that Mirulewan was murdered, all of the suspects later withdrew their police investigation reports (BAP).
5. Agus Mulyawan
Agus Mulyawan was an assistant correspondent and fixer in Indonesia for the Japanese based Asia Press.
Based on a Kompas daily report on September 30, 1999 Mulyawan was shot dead in Pelabuhan Qom, Los Palos, East Timor, on September 25, 1999.
It was reported that the shooting also killed eight other people. The day after, on September 26, Mulyawan’s body was found at the bottom of the Verukoco River in Apikuru, Lautem regency.
6. Fuad M Syarifuddin (Udin)
Fuad Muhammad Syarifuddin was a Bernas Daily journalist in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta. He was murdered on August 16, 1996.
The murder was reportedly because of reports he had written about alleged corruption in Bantul regency.
The Kompas daily reported that Syarifuddin did indeed often write critical articles about the policies of former president Suharto’s New Order regime. One of them was an article on a promise by the regent to assist in funding the Dharmais Foundation if he was reelected.
Three days before being killed, Syarifuddin was attacked and assaulted by unknown individuals at his home in Bantul, Yogyakarta.
7. Ersa Siregar
Ersa Siregar was an RCTI television journalist who died while reporting on the armed conflict in Indonesia’s northern-most province of Aceh.
On July 1, 2003, Siregar and camera person Ferry Santoro were reported missing in Kuala Langsa. Four days later the vehicle they were using was found in Langsa.
On December 29, 2003, there was an exchange of fire between the TNI (Indonesian military) and the armed separatist group the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Kuala Maniham, Simpang Ulim. Siregar was killed during the incident.
8. Muhammad Jamaluddin
Muhammad Jamaluddin was a TVRI Aceh camera person who was found dead on June 17, 2003. There were a number of suspected reasons for his death: that he was killed by GAM or accusations that TNI soldiers abducted him for particular motives.
9. AA Prabangsa
Radar Bali journalist Anak Agung Narendra Prabangsa was killed on February 16, 2009 at the Padang Bai port.
Police later declared several people suspects in the premeditated murder. Meanwhile the intellectual actor behind the killing was Nyoman Susrama, the younger brother of Bangli Regent Nengah Arnawa. Susrama was also the supervisor for Bangli Education Department projects.
The Denpasar District Court found Susrama guilty for the murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The sentence however was later commuted to 20 years after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo signed a sentence remission.
Widodo’s decision to give a sentence remission to Susrama was widely slammed. The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) said that Susrama was the only convicted murderer of a journalist to be given a heavy sentence, only to then be given a remission.
10. Ridwan Salamun
Ridwan Salamun was a Sun TV contributor in Tual, Maluku Tenggara, and was a resident of the Banda Eli village.
Salamun was assaulted and killed while he was covering a clash between residents of the Banda Eli complex and residents of the Mangun ward, Fiditan Village, Tual City, Maluku Tenggara on August 21, 2010.
According to eyewitness reports, Salamun was in the middle of the two warring sides attempting to take photographs when he was slashed to death.
Three people were named suspects and charged with assaulting Salamun resulting in his death. The Tual District Court however released all three defendants on March 9, 2011 after they were found not guilty of the murder.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Mengingat Lagi 10 Kasus Pembunuhan Wartawan di Indonesia...”.]
