Vedro Imanuel Girsang, Jakarta – In less than a week, Tempo's editorial office received two packages containing animal carcasses. The recent string of terror against journalists has raised concerns about the threat to press freedom.
The first terror package was received by Tempo on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. Meanwhile, the second package was sent in the early hours of Saturday, March 22, 2025.
The first package was delivered by a courier with a delivery app attribute and addressed to Francisca Christy Rosana or Cica, a political compartment journalist and host of the Bocor Alus Politik podcast. When opened, the package turned out to contain a pig's head without ears.
Meanwhile, the second package was found by Agus, a janitor at Tempo's editorial office. The package was a box wrapped in red rose-patterned wrapping paper with a slight dent from being thrown. When opened, it revealed six rat carcasses with decapitated heads.
Tempo's Editor-in-Chief, Setri Yasa, believes that this series of events further clarifies the deliberate terror against journalistic work carried out by Tempo. "The sender intentionally terrorizes the work of journalists," Setri said in a written statement on Saturday, March 22, 2025.
University of Gadjah Mada's Communication Science lecturer, Wisnu Prasetya Utomo, believes that there are at least two reasons why attacks on press freedom continue to occur. The first reason is the practice of impunity for cases of violence against journalists.
"There are rarely serious legal actions taken against various violence against journalists," said Wisnu when contacted by Tempo through a messaging app on Saturday, March 22, 2025.
According to Wisnu, the second reason is the normalization carried out by public officials regarding the threat to press freedom. In fact, public officials often underestimate and do not take such cases seriously.
"Due to the lack of serious actions and the normalization process, the perpetrators of violence become bolder," Wisnu added.
Press freedom trend in Indonesia
In a study conducted by the Press Council in 2024, the Press Freedom Index (IKP) score was at 69.36, a decrease of 2.21 points from the previous score of 71.57. Indonesia's IKP has been on a downward trend since 2022.
"The condition of press freedom in Indonesia has worsened in the past five years," said the Coordinator of the Journalist Safety Committee (KKJ), Erick Tanjung, when contacted by Tempo via a phone call on Saturday, March 22, 2025.
In 2024, the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) recorded 73 attacks on journalists. Meanwhile, from January to March 2025, AJI has received and verified a total of 20 cases related to attacks on journalists.
"The highest perpetrators of the attacks are the police. In the past year, the trend is increasing, followed by the military," added Erick.
Chairperson of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) Muhammad Isnur said the trend of attacks on press freedom is in line with the increasingly audacious characteristics of the government and the DPR in formulating policies,
"Their nature is that when criticized, instead of accepting and taking it well, they consider the criticism as a threat, an attack, something that can disrupt their power," said Isnur in an audio recording sent to Tempo on Saturday, March 22, 2025.
This situation worsens when the state is considered not only negligent but also a perpetrator of attacks on journalists. "In fact, in several cases, state officials are involved as obstructors of journalistic work, even as perpetrators of violence," added Erick Tanjung.