Indonesian journalists demand better security in wake of 43 attacks

Indonesian journalists demand better security in wake of 43 attacks:

Journalists hold a rally to commemorate International Press Freedom Day in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Thursday. Photo: Antara/Jakarta Globe

Pacific Scoop:

Report – By Farouk Arnaz
Press freedom advocates have called for greater protection for journalists, following a tumultuous 12 months in which scores of reporters were attacked or killed in Indonesia.
Aryo Wisanggeni, head of advocacy at the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), said there had been 43 attacks against the press since April 30 last year, adding to eight previous unsolved murders of journalists.
“ The impunity toward the killers and attackers of journalists makes it impossible for the perpetrators, including law enforcement officers, to understand that journalism is protected under the law and the Constitution,” he said at a rally at the National Police headquarters to mark World Press Freedom Day.
“As a result of this, cases of violence against journalists persist.”
Aryo called on all parties to bring an end to the culture of violence against the press. He also urged closure in the unresolved killings of eight journalists stretching back to 1996.
He said this was particularly important in the case of Fuad Muhammad Syarifuddin, a reporter with the Bernas daily paper in Yogyakarta who was killed in 1996, with the statute of limitations in his case running out in August 2014.
The latest death was reported in February in Aceh, where Darma Sahlan, a reporter for the weekly Monitor Medan magazine, was found lying dead in a ditch in Southeast Aceh district. He was investigating embezzlement.
The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that since 1992, 75 percent of attacks were against reporters covering corruption stories.
Source: Jakarta Globe