Rahmat & Ismira Lutfia, Makassar – Journalists in Makassar and Jakarta demanded justice on Thursday for two colleagues killed in Maluku in separate incidents.
In Makassar, journalists protested Wednesday's acquittal of three defendants in the murder of Sun TV reporter Ridwan Salamun, who was killed last year while covering a communal conflict in Maluku's Tual district. "The verdict just doesn't make sense," said Abdul Haris, the protest's organizer and a member of the Alliance of Makassar Journalists.
He said the facts disclosed during the trial at the Tual District Court implicated the three defendants in Ridwan's murder. The verdict, he added, only reaffirmed the deterioration of the country's legal system.
"Ridwan Salamun has been further victimized by the country's poor and unprofessional legal system," he said.
Mardiana Rusli, who heads the local chapter of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), said the verdict spelled bad news for press freedom. He also accused the government of failing to protect journalists, whose safety is guaranteed by the 1999 Press Law.
AJI said it would examine the verdict and urged the Judicial Commission to take over the case. The commission, Mardiana said, is "our last hope for justice in this country. The commission must probe the judges who handled Ridwan's case."
In Jakarta, colleagues of Alfrets Mirulewan, a journalist who was killed while reporting in Maluku, sought out the support of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).
Alfrets was found dead on a beach on Maluku's Kisar Island after he had tailed a truck allegedly transporting illegal gasoline, as part of an investigative report he had been working on.
Yeremias Mahuri, a journalist who works for Teropong Barat Daya, a tabloid in Maluku, said he had received information that the four suspects detained in connection with the murder had admitted their involvement in Alfret's death.
Jhony Simanjuntak, a Komnas HAM member, said the commission was deeply concerned over the safety of journalists. He urged the local police to find those responsible for the murder and determine the motive behind Alfret's death.
"We need to know if his death was really connected to the illegal gasoline trade, or if there was another motive," Jhony said.
He added that the police in Maluku should also investigate the cause of the gasoline shortage now affecting the southwestern islands of the province.
The commission, he said, has been gathering information that might indicate oversights and mistakes in the local police's investigation into the case. "Once we have all the facts, we will submit our report to the National Police and ask if they will take over the investigation," Jhony said.