Arghea Desafti Hapsari, Jakarta – More than three decades have passed since Shirley Shackleton heard the devastating news that her husband, a journalist covering the conflict in then East Timor, was killed.
But Shackleton, now 78, still embraces every opportunity given to her to seek out the truth behind the tragedy.
"This is not just about vengeance. This is about accountability. That's the justice I want," she said Thursday, minutes before entering a courtroom in Jakarta where she testified on the banning of the film Balibo.
The controversial film was banned last year by the Film Censorship Board (LSF). It recounts the story of five journalists who were killed during the invasion of the town of Balibo in East Timor – Timor Leste as it was known before independence from Indonesia – in 1975.
Both the Indonesian and Australian governments have always maintained that the journalists died in crossfire between the Indonesian Army and the East Timorese Fretilin rebels. Investigations into the case, however, have alleged Indonesian forces were behind the deaths.
"I want [the perpetrators] to be given the right to clear their names in a court of law. They have that basic right. No one has ever asked them to account for their actions. They deserve the right that I've got here today by coming to appear in court," Shackleton said.
She told the court she believed her husband was murdered after surrendering to Indonesian troops. Shackleton said she was convinced by evidence given to an Australian inquest on the deaths of her husband and his colleagues.
"It found that their arms were in the air, giving themselves up. They were not armed and were wearing civilian clothes and the perpetrators of this atrocity were members of [the Indonesian military]," she added.
She said she "supported the cause of the film Balibo because they've reached their objectives to clarify the lies and the cover up. In good Aussie slang the cat is out of the bag".
The ban on the film has sparked heated debate on how well democracy and the freedom of expression is implemented in the country.
The LSF banned the film on the grounds that it depicted violence and that the film only used Australian and Timor Leste sources, a matter that concerned the Indonesian government. The film tells a story of the Timor Leste's fight for independence under Indonesian oppression during the New Order regime. The military is especially sensitive on the topic.
LSF legal division head Tedjo Baskoro said after Thursday's hearing that Balibo could also hurt the relationship between Indonesia and Australia. "It opens old wounds," he said.
Shackleton lamented that the Indonesian government was not dealing with its past sins. "They've kept it hidden away by banning [the film]. So the people took over, which is another good step in the way of democracy," she said.
The case, she added, was "important to establish whether democracy is alive and well in Indonesia". "The censorship destroyed all the credibility of a country wishing to be part of the free world," Shackleton told The Jakarta Post.
During the hearing, a representative from the LSF asked Shackleton, who claims to have watched the film many times, if she saw sadistic footage in the film. Shackleton, who was accompanied by an interpreter, said yes. After the session, however, she learned that her interpreter had mistakenly used the word "violent" and not "sadistic".
"I think the film does show violence but it was nowhere near sadistic," she said, adding that she would write the court to inform them of the mistake.