A search team in West Papua, Indonesia, found the body of local reporter Ardiansyah Matra’is, in a river on Friday, two days after the journalist had been reported missing. Matra’is was found naked and handcuffed, according to Radio New Zealand International.
Matra’is, a reporter for local broadcaster Merauke TV, had received several text messages over the past week in the run up to local elections, according to Indonesian news reports. The journalist, who had worked as a stringer for TV station Anteve and as a reporter for Papua’s Rajawali daily before joining Merauke TV, had been reported missing since Wednesday evening, 28 July 2010, when local residents found his motorcycle and helmet near a bridge in Merauke, a small town in Papua.
A number of other local journalists had also complained to the police about receiving threatening text messages, local police said. According to the Jakarta Globe, one of the threatening text messages read: “To cowardly journalists, never play with fire if you don’t want to be burned. If you still want to make a living on this land, don’t do weird things. We have data on all of you and be prepared for death.”
The cause of Matra’is’ death has yet to be determined; local newspapers report that the family has been reluctant to have an autopsy performed. Local police are investigating.
Matra’is’ death comes less than a week after the death of another Indonesian journalist.
Police are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of Muhammad Syaifullah, a prominent environmental journalist and head of the Borneo bureau of Kompas, Indonesia’s biggest daily newspaper. Syaifullah was found in his home by colleagues, covered in bruises and frothing at the mouth, according to the Jakarta Globe. Police have dismissed any foul play, but fellow local journalists have suggested Syaifullah may have been poisoned following his critical reporting of the environmental destruction caused by mining in the Kalimantan region of the island.
“We extend our condolences to the families of the murdered journalists and strongly condemn any government or official action that would lead citizens to believe that they can threaten or murder a journalist without any threat to themselves,” said IPI Interim Director Alison Bethel McKenzie following the news of the two deaths. “The Indonesian authorities must do everything possible to investigate both these deaths thoroughly.
“The perpetrators behind Matra’is’ death and the senders of the threatening texts must be caught to ensure the safety of other journalists working in the region. Police must do their utmost to bring those responsible to justice.”
Indonesia saw one journalist killed last year, according to IPI’s Death Watch. Anak Agung Prabangsa, a reporter with the Indonesian-language daily Radar Bali, was found four days after being reported missing in February 2009, floating in waters west of the Padangbai harbour. Prabangsa had been reporting on irregularities in a project to build an international-standard kindergarten and elementary school in Bangli regency and had received threatening phone calls before his disappearance. Indonesia’s Bali court handed down a life sentence in February this year to one-time election candidate I Nyoman Susrama for planning and helping to carry out the deadly beating of the reporter.
