Nivell Rayda & Ismira Lutfia, Jakarta – Ignatius Haryanto, the author of a number of books on press freedom, knows that a police investigation has concluded there was no foul play in the untimely death of Kompas daily journalist Muhammad Syaifullah last July.

But he can't seem to shake off a nagging feeling that there's more to the story. "I'm not too sure what it is but I just felt that something isn't right" with Syaifullah's death, he told the Jakarta Globe. "It's been bothering me so much that I felt I had to do something."

Haryanto, who is also a lecturer at the Kompas Multimedia Institute, says he decided to compile Syaifullah's work, even though he's not sure what he would do with it. "It's for my private collection. I'm not writing a book or an academic paper on Ful," he said, referring to Syaifullah by his nickname.

Shrouded in mystery

Ignatius isn't the only one with these doubts. Syaifullah was found dead at his home in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, on July 26 by two journalist friends. He was 43.

Wahyu Hidayat, one of those who found the body, recounted that when they saw Syaifullah, he had a foamy mouth and he was sitting in front of a switched-on television with the remote control still in his hand. The door was even unlocked when they arrived.

"I knew him for a long time," Wahyu said. "We once shared a house and I know he never had any serious illnesses. Syaifullah liked playing sports so there is no way he had a heart attack."

Since he was named as Kompas's Kalimantan bureau chief in 2007, Syaifullah consistently wrote about environmental damage in the area and was known to be very critical toward mining and logging companies operating in the resource-rich region.

"He was not afraid to name names and identify the companies involved in illicit activities in Kalimantan," Kompas managing editor Budiman Tanuredjo said. "His consistency and passion for environmental issues was an asset to us."

A report released last week by French-based Reporters Without Borders, which ranked Indonesia 117th out of 178 countries in its 2010 World Press Freedom Index, down 17 spots from last year, made note of Syaifullah's death.

His death led to Indonesia's lower ranking, along with that of Ridwan Salamun, a contributor for Jakarta-based Sun TV, in addition to several cases of intimidation and death threats toward reporters, particularly those working on environmental issues, the group said.

Ridwan was killed in August while covering a clash between residents of Fiditan village in Tual, Southeast Maluku. But unlike his case, Syaifullah's death is shrouded in mystery.

"There were never any complaints about [Syaifullah's] articles. He also had never alerted us if he had received threats or intimidation," said Budiman, the Kompas editor. "So you can see why although we feel that his death was suspicious it is difficult for us to prove that he was murdered.

"His stories have surely upset a lot of people but we cannot pinpoint a single party that might be responsible for his death."

Lack of transparency

The newspaper eventually set up two teams to investigate the death. One team was sent to Balikpapan and another to Surabaya, East Java, where police conducted an autopsy and tested for poisons.

"We lobbied the police to appoint a leading toxicologist, Professor Syukri from Airlangga University in Surabaya, because we felt that he would be independent," one Kompas reporter, who chose to remain anonymous, told the Globe.

"But over time, Syukri became less accessible. He was always avoiding reporters and wouldn't answer our calls. That's when we grew even more suspicious."

Balikpapan Police eventually stopped the entire investigation on Oct. 6, saying that "no indication of crime was found," and that Syaifullah died of natural causes from heart failure combined with hypertension.

"The autopsy result was never disclosed to Kompas or Syaifullah's family, who gave the initial consent for the test to be conducted," the Kompas source said.

The Kompas team that set out to monitor the investigation "left Jakarta with a 90 percent conviction that Syaifullah died of natural causes, but the lack of transparency of the [police] investigation made us believe otherwise."

Syaifullah's wife, Isnainijah Sri Rohmani, confirmed that the family was never given the autopsy result. Police "told me that the autopsy result was a state secret. I needed the result to claim my husband's insurance money but all I got was a letter from the police notifying his death," she said. "I don't know if that is true. I don't understand the law."

Noted lawyer Taufik Basari, however, said Syaifullah's heir had every right to claim the autopsy result despite the fact that the examination is a part of criminal investigation.

"An autopsy is the same as a medical record. By law, both are bound to acts of confidentiality between doctors and patients, and their rightful heirs," he said.

"So it is false to say that an autopsy is a part of an investigation that cannot be disclosed to the public. It is, in fact, the other way around. An autopsy is commissioned by the heir of the deceased to be used in an investigation, which means the results are owned by the family."

The lawyer added that Syaifullah's heir could take the case to the Information Commission and report police for withholding declassified information. "Now that the investigation has stopped, there is absolutely no excuse for police not to disclose the autopsy result."

Dangers in the environment

According to the London-based free speech advocacy group Article 19, Indonesian journalists reporting on environmental impacts and degradation, particularly those in remote areas, face intense pressure ranging from death threats to physical abuse.

A Merauke TV journalist, Ardiansyah Matra'is, committed suicide and his body was found in the Gudang Arand River on July 30, near Merauke, Papua. He was reportedly suffering from chronic mental depression after being threatened for months by soldiers for his investigative reporting on illegal logging in the area.

Ahmadi, a photographer for the daily Harian Aceh, faced the same type of intimidation. Ahmadi was kidnapped by a local army officer after taking pictures of soldiers protecting an illegal logging operation on May 19.

The picture appeared in the newspaper the following day and Ahmadi went missing for several days before he was released. Ahmadi later told a local human rights group about his ordeal, saying he was stripped naked and tortured by army officials. The officials later faced administrative sanctions.

Agnes Callamard, Article 19's executive director, said intimidation cases like these had substantial impact on the overall quality of journalism in Indonesia and its burgeoning democracy.

"Journalists must be able to operate in a safe environment, free from intimidation," Callamard said. "The efforts to combat the impact of climate change will be significantly undermined should such violent acts against journalists go unpunished."

Weak law enforcement

Hendrayana, chairman of the Legal Aid Foundation for the Press (LBH Pers), said the apparent lack of response from law enforcement agencies on these press violence cases had undoubtedly "raised questions from the international community."

He said that despite making progress toward democratization, the government should pledge more solid guarantees for press freedom by amending the laws and regulations under which journalists may be prosecuted with criminal charges.

"There are many court rulings on journalistic cases that don't refer to the 1999 Press Law, and instead use the Criminal Code," Hendrayana said.

He said other repressive regulations jeopardizing press freedom in the country included the 2008 Information and Electronic Transaction (ITE) Law, the 2008 Anti-Pornography Law and the criminal defamation provisions under the Criminal Code.

Margiono, an advocacy coordinator for the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), agreed that the rising number of cases of violence against journalists was the result of weak law enforcement and poor protection of press freedom by the government.

The AJI coordinator said press freedom in Indonesia could worsen unless the government took a strict line against alleged attackers of the press and campaigned for greater awareness of press freedom among the authorities and the public.

"But such a campaign would be ineffective without stringent law enforcement to serve as a deterrent, so both have to be put into action simultaneously," Margiono said.

Even after the reform movement that began during the fall of former President Suharto, AJI said protection of journalists against life-threatening intimidation continued to take a back seat. He pointed out that investigation and prosecution of perpetrators in these cases was extremely rare.

The AJI was closely involved in the investigation into the death of Anak Agung Narendra Prabangsa, a journalist for the Radar Bali newspaper. Prabangsa was killed last year over a series of articles he had written, outlining widespread corruption in local government projects.

Police later arrested nine suspects, including Regional Representatives Council (DPRD) member Nyoman Susrama, who a district court in Bali later sentenced to life in prison in February for masterminding and helping carry out Prabangsa's murder.

"I knew that being a reporter could be dangerous, but that is the life [Syaifullah] chose. It was his calling," Syaifullah's wife Isnainijah said. "I guess every line of work has its risks. [The risk of being a journalist] certainly didn't bother my husband."

Although her husband's death has left many riddles, Isnainijah said she and her two daughters are ready to move on.

"My eldest daughter took [her father's death] better than me. She was even the one who comforted me and not the other way around," Isnainijah said with a trembling voice.

"My only regret is that my daughters didn't get the chance to know their father very well. He was always away on assignment and we lived in Samarinda [South Kalimantan] while my husband was in Balikpapan.

"There is so much that my husband could have taught our children. I want to tell them that their father never complained about anything. I want to say to them that their father was always persistent in his work and never gave up. I want them to be like their father," she said.