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Reporters covering activist's murder receive death threats

Jakarta Globe - November 8, 2015

East Java village chief admits to bribing police in illegal mining case – Jakarta Globe. October 12, 2015
Police accused of racketeering in death of activist – Jakarta Post. October 10, 2015
Police officers investigated as accessory to murder of activist Kancil – Jakarta Globe. October 9, 2015
Back to wanton murder? – Jakarta Post Editorial. October 6, 2015
Police criticized for inaction in lead up to activist's death – Jakarta Post. October 5, 2015

Jakarta – Police are looking into claims of threats made against three television reporters covering the high-profile murder of an anti-mining activist in East Java.

Wawan Sugiarto of TVOne, Ahmad Arif Ulinuha of JTV and Abdul Rohman of Kompas TV reported getting the text messages at the same time on Thursday night from an unidentified number.

The messages warned that they could be killed if they continued to report on the fallout from the murder of Salim Kancil and his partner Tosan, who was injured in the attack in September by a mob in Lumajang district.

The reporters said they initially intended to report the messages to the local police, but received follow-up messages threatening that they would be intercepted on the way there.

"So we told the East Java provincial police about it, and now they're investigating," Wawan told Metro TV on Saturday.

"We've been reporting extensively on the [Salim Kancil] case, but we never expected we would be threatened like this," Abdul told Viva News. "We have asked the [East Java] police to protect us."

Salim and Tosan had been leading a series of protests against a sand mining operation at Lumajang's Watu Pecak Beach before they were attacked.

Police have arrested 18 people in connection with the attack, including the chief of village where the mining was taking place. Police have also launched an inquiry into three police officers believed to have been complicit in the attack.

The threatening messages are the latest in a series of attacks on the press in Indonesia. Also on Thursday, a reporter for TVOne covering the death of a motorcyclist who was shot dead by an Army sergeant in a road-rage incident in Bogor was himself the target of a gun attack. He escaped unhurt after an unknown assailant fired several shots at him as he sat in his car. Police are investigating the incident.

In Bali, police last month ordered organizers of the world-renowned Ubud Writers and Readers Festival to cancel a series of events centering on the 1965-66 anti-communist purge led by the military and which left up to two million people dead.

The police claimed they were not censoring the events, claiming the organizers had failed to specify the topics under discussion when applying for permits to hold the gatherings.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/reporters-covering-activists-murder-receive-death-threats/.