Media rights group Reporters Without Borders called on Indonesian authorities Saturday to put extra efforts into ensuring press freedom after a series of media freedom violations in the country.
RSF highlighted among other violations, the murder of Darma Sahlan, a journalist working for the weekly Monitor Medan, who was found dead in a ditch in the village of Lawe Dua in Aceh province on Feb. 5.
"We urge the authorities to do everything possible to shed light on his death, and to not rule out the possibility that he was murdered in connection with his work," it said in a release.
His wife told a local newspaper Serambi Indonesia that her husband had a heated phone conversation with someone a month before over one of his stories. An autopsy showed he had sustained a blow to the head from a blunt object and injuries to the face. Skid marks were also found near the body.
"They must also do what is necessary to guarantee the safety of journalists and freedom of information. We are very worried by the problems for journalists throughout the country and in West Papua in particular," it added.
The France-based international media group also criticized the arrest in Indonesia of a Czech journalist Petr Zamecnik, 35, on Wednesday for taking photos of a pro-independence demonstration in Manokwari town in Papua region.
Indonesia imposes strict visa regulations on foreign visitors to Papua and tight restrictions on foreign journalists looking to report from the region.
Jakarta annexed Papua in 1969 in a self-determination referendum widely seen as rigged and continues to keep a tight grip on the region through its military and police to quell a decades-long insurgency by poorly armed rebels. In 2010, two French journalists were deported from Papua for filming a peaceful demonstration outside government-approved areas.
Indonesia is ranked 146th out of 179 countries in the latest Reporters Without Borders press freedom index. Human Rights Watch in its 2010 report said Indonesian officials and other powerful people are increasingly using the country's draconian criminal libel laws to silence critics and stymie democratic debate.