Police told to act on missing journo
Police told to act on missing journo
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Press Council and the Alliance of Independent Journalists
(AJI) have urged the police to quickly investigate and solve a
case of alleged violence against a Medan-based journalist who
disappeared almost two months ago after running stories on
irregularities in a local election.
The council said in a statement that according to witnesses,
50-year-old Elyuddin Telaumbanua, who works for the Berita Sore
evening daily, went missing on Aug. 24 while covering an election
dispute in South Nias regency, where he was based. One witness
said that Elyuddin was attacked and kidnapped by a group of thugs
that included a village head named Sama Gaho, possibly at the
request of local officials who were offended by his published
articles.
"Even though the incident was reported to the police, there
has been no action taken against the perpetrators. On the
contrary, those who reported it have been threatened. It is very
worrisome," the council said over the weekend.
"Therefore, we urged the National Police chief to immediately
look into the case. The Nias and North Sumatra police offices
must be pressured into working harder to solve the case. The
police must not try to cover up the case even if it involves
local high-ranking officials," it added.
Meanwhile, AJI said in a statement that there was a
possibility that the journalist had been killed.
The journalists association said that before leaving home to
pursue a story in South Nias' Teluk Dalam district on that
fateful day, Elyuddin showed a picture of a local politician to
his wife and told her that "If anything happens to me, find this
man".
"This information should be treated as a fact that must be
used by the police to investigate the case," AJI said.
It said that the case was another example of the threats
journalists faced, and would undermine the country's nascent
press freedom and democracy.
It also said that the 1996 killing of Yogyakarta-based Harian
Bernas daily journalist Mohammad Syafrudin had not been solved as
the police had not apprehended the murderers.
AJI urged the public not to take the law into their own hands
when dealing with press disputes, but to avail of the legal
system.