The National Police on Thursday said the stabbing of a journalist in Papua early that day did not appear to be linked to his recent work to expose sex abuse at a local police detention center.
Banjir Ambarita, a freelance reporter and contributor to the Jakarta Globe, was attacked in Jayapura by two men on a motorcycle as he was riding his own motorcycle home shortly after midnight. He was stabbed twice, in the chest near his shoulder and in the stomach. The attackers fled and Banjir managed to get to a nearby police station where officers rushed him to Marthen Indey Army Hospital in the citys Aryoko district. I have ordered the local police to collect more evidence and witnesses to solve this case, which so far has no indication of being related to any story he had written, said Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi, National Police chief of detectives. In one of his latest stories, Banjir had reported on a female detainee who had been forced to perform oral sex on three officers at the detention center. The Jayapura Police chief has resigned due to his moral responsibility over his subordinates conduct. Ito said the National Police were coordinating with the Papua Police and have yet to decide whether to send officers to Jayapura. If they need us, then we will go there, he said. Viktor Mambor, head of the Papua chapter of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), said Banjir was now recovering in intensive care after surgery. He regained consciousness for a while and asked for water, he said. He will have to fast for at least the next five days since he cannot eat because of the damage done to his intestine. Local police had been quick to set up a team to probe the attack, with at least two witnesses already questioned, Viktor said. The AJI has called for a full investigation into the attack, saying that it was an attempt to intimidate the media. Its call was echoed by the Legal Aid Foundation for the Press (LBH Pers). Unless the police take swift action, the perpetrators could get away and destroy the evidence, AJI chairman Nezar Patria said. Margiyono, an advocacy coordinator for the AJI, said the police had been slow in investigating attacks on reporters and many cases had gone unsolved. This just shows how impunity is extended toward those who obstruct journalists work, he said. In its 2010 year-end review, the AJI said cases of violence against journalists rose to 46 from 37 in 2009, ranging from murder to assault, ransacking of offices, confiscation of journalists working tools and threats. An Indonesian journalist has sustained minor injuries to his arm after being beaten by a police officer in Mamuju, West Sulawesi, on Wednesday. Policeman Bustam M beat Publik newspaper reporter Awaluddin DP with a rattan stick as he was taking photos of a motorcycle racing on a temporary track in from of the West Sulawesi governors office. Awaluddin said the officer was trying to disperse spectators from a dangerous zone. If I did not ward off Bustam M, my face would have got hurt. Indonesian journalists remain vulnerable to acts of physical violence despite the governments support of press freedom. In the most recent attack, The Jakarta Globe contributor in Papua, Banjir Ambarita, was stabbed by two unknown assailants in Jayapura on Wednesday night. Banjir on Thursday was being monitored in intensive care after his surgery, as police begin their investigation into his attack. On Tuesday, Poso Police arrested three men for alleged attacks on a journalist. Central Sulawesi police spokesman Commissioner Rostin Tumaloto only identified the suspects as An, Al, and Sn. The three Poso Kota subdistrict residents are among six people suspect of attacking Media Alkhairaat journalist Subandi at Sintuvu Maroso University on Tuesday at 1 p.m. local time, Rostin said. The Indonesian Press Council recorded 25 cases of violence against journalists during 2010 including acts of intimidation, destruction of reporting equipment, destruction to media offices and assault. Three Indonesian journalists were murdered last year. On Aug 21, Ridwan Salamun, a reporter for the Ambon-based newspaper Ambon Express and a contributor for the Jakarta-based SUN TV and RCTI, was hacked to death during a clash between two villages in Southeast Maluku. The head of Kompas newspapers Kalimantan bureau, Muhammad Syaifullah, was found dead in mysterious circumstances in his house in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, on July 26. Some journalists believe Syaifullah could have been killed because of his reports on sensitive environmental issues. That killing followed the July 30 death of Ardiansyah Matrais, a Papuan reporter with Merauke TV whose body was found in the Gudang Arang River in Merauke two days after he had been reported missing. 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