Slaying of journalist in East Timor condemned

Slaying of journalist in East Timor condemned

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI) and
the Independent Journalists Association (AJI) called on Wednesday
for a thorough investigation into the killing of Agus Mulyawan,
an Indonesian journalist who was shot dead along with eight
church workers in Baucau, East Timor, over the weekend.

While condemning the second murder of a journalist in East
Timor within a week, the two associations demanded that the
Indonesian Military (TNI) and the International Force for East
Timor (Interfet) be held accountable for the incident.

"Both TNI and Interfet must be held responsible for the
killing, because the murder took place before the transfer of
control of the territory," PWI said in a statement signed by
chairman Tarman Azzam, secretary-general Bambang Sadono and the
head of its journalist advocacy unit, Ilham Bintang.

In a statement signed by its chairman Lukas Luwarso, AJI
demanded that TNI capture the suspected killers and called on all
journalists remaining in East Timor to fight all forms of terror
for the sake of their profession.

The death of Agus, who worked for Japanese radio station Asia
Press International, followed the murder of Financial Times
correspondent Sander Thoenes last Tuesday.

An armed group attacked Agus, who had been in East Timor
documenting armed independence group Falintil since Aug. 29, as
he was traveling to Los Palos from Baucau, northeast of Dili, on
Saturday with two nuns, two deacons, a student priest, two
teenage girls and a driver. The group was traveling to Los Palos
to distribute food and medicine to refugees.

Their bodies were reportedly dumped in a river near Baucau.

The death of Agus shocked his parents and sisters, who
expressed their disbelief at the news.

"Is it true? I can't believe he has died," Agus' mother Lina
Sri Rejeki said. "A week ago, his father called and asked him to
come home, but he said he could not because there were no more
flights from or to East Timor."

She said a woman who identified herself as Yeni phoned from
Jakarta to inform her of the death of her 26-year-old son. The
woman told Lina she was a friend of Agus.

Lina, 53, said she wanted her son to be buried in his hometown
of Denpasar, Bali.

She said her mother repeatedly asked whether Agus would come
home soon after having a bad dream a few days before his death.
(50/amd)