Indonesia Still Owes Accountability of 8 Murdered Journalists

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia will host the World Press Freedom Day on May 3 and 4 next year. Yosep Adi Prasetyo, chairman of the Indonesian Press Council reminded that there is still something that holds Indonesia back from being able to call itself a country with journalistic freedom.

There are eight cases of murdered journalist that have not been solved.

The media still remembers Fuad Muhammad Syafruddin a.k.a Udin, a journalist from Harian Bernas Yogyakarta, who was assaulted to death on August 16, 1996. His death remains unsolved until today.

There was also Naimullah, a journalist from Sinar Pagi, whose body was found at the Penimbungan Beach, West Kalimantan on July 25, 1997. Asia Press journalist Agus Mulyawan was found dead on September 25in East Timor.

Muhammad Jamaluddin, a TVRI cameraman, went missing in Aceh in 2003. On December 29 the same year, RCTI reporter Ersa Siregar also went missing in Aceh.

Herliyanto, a journalist with Delta Pos Sidoarjo, was found dead in the woods at Tarokan Village, Probolinggo on April 29, 2006. In July 29, 2010, Ardiansyah Matra'is Wibisono, a local TV journalist was found dead in Gudang Arang, Maro River, Merauke.

One recent case is the death of Alfred Mirulewan, a journalist with Pelangi tabloid, who was found dead on December 18, 2010 in Maluku.

In a special interview with Tempo, Yosep said that the Press Council is also concerned with cases of brutality and violence against journalists.

He said that most of the times, journalists that experienced abuse preferred to settle things off court. This, he said, does not give a deterrence effect to the perpetrators.

The Press Council, he said, receives a letter from the UNESCO each year; asking about the development of Udin's murder and the rest.

"We always provide answers after confirming with the police. But the police's responses are not so great. On Udin's case, for example, the new chief of regional police would say 'I am the eight Kapolda. This case was handled by my predecessor,'" Yosep said. "This shows that their work is not continuous. Unsolved facts should be new officials' homework."

Regarding the World Freedom Press which Indonesia will host next year, Yosep said that the Press Council wants the cases solved.

"We want to tell about Indonesia's success story Indonesia to maintain freedom of journalism since 1999. But we cannot do that if the eight murder cases remain unsolved," Yosep concluded 

TITO SIANIPAR