The Papuan police are convinced Ardiansyah, a Merauke TV journalist, was not murdered. The findings of the Alliance of Independent Journalists showed differently. He was killed before being dumped into a river.
Sutarto (Jakarta), Tjahyono E.P. (Merauke) and Cunding Levi (Jayapura)
JAKARTA: From the Regional House of Representatives in Papua, around 100 journalists marched to the Papua Police headquarters on Monday last week. They wanted to meet with Police Chief, Insp. Gen. Bekto Suprapto. Instead of covering the police chief's activity, they questioned him on the murder case of Ardiansyah Qomar Wibisono Matra'is. At the end of July, the Merauke TV reporter familiarly called Ardi was found dead in Maro River at the Gudang Arang area, Merauke.
Arriving at the gate, the journalists from various print and broadcast media walked backwards to the office of Bekto, an action meant to symbolise the performance of the police, who according to these reporters are incapable of investigating the death of Ardiansyah.
"We demand the regional police chief be replaced for failing to uncover this murder," said Viktor Mambor, chairman of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), Jayapura, who coordinated the protest.
The police denied the slow investigation of Ardiansyah's death. Merauke City Police Chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Djoko Prihadi, for instance, claimed that his personnel kept examining the case. Djoko admitted the difficulty in determining cause of Ardi'sdeath.
"There are no witnesses and evidence," he said.
According to Djoko, autopsy results led to the medical conclusion that Ardi did not die due to maltreatment. To AJI-Jayapura, Milka Betaubun, the doctor performing the autopsy on Ardi, strongly denied the presence of wounds resulting from beatings on the body.
"There were wounds but they didn't result from violence," said Milka. Milka said that it appeared as if Ardi's body had been drowned for some time.
The reporters in Jayapura do not believe this. They feel sure Ardi was killed. AJI itself has investigated the death of Ardi. The outcome, as AJI concluded, was that the Jubi tabloid journalist had been killed before his body was dumped into a river. Viktor said when he was found floating in Maro River, there were strap wounds on Ardi's neck. His tongue stuck out.
"So it was a murder rather than suicide."
Ardi's family also believes in AJI's findings. "There were traces of blows under the armpit, the ear, and on the chest," said Uki, Ardi's older brother. From Ardi's ear, added Uki, water and blood seeped out. The family accused the hospital of attempting to hide some facts that caused Ardi's death. Suratno, Ardi's father, also said he believed AJI's investigation results even more.
"It's because Ardi's rib was broken," added Suratno.
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ARDI'S body was first found by Rudolf Kemon, a Gudang Arang resident, at around 6am on July 30. It was floating near the wooden support of a bridge. Kemon promptly tied the body's hands with a string to prevent the corpse from drifting with the current.
When it was found the body was hard to identify, being swollen and blackish. Later, as Uki examined the teeth of the corpse, he was sure it was his younger brother, Ardi. "He had two false teeth."
Two days before he was discovered, related Uki, Ardi had taken his two children to school. On Wednesday, July 28, after fetching his children, Ardi, who was once treated in Abepura mental hospital due to depression, looked confused and frightened. When asked by his father and wife, he was silent. Then he left his home.
"I'm sad. I asked him where he was going, but he just went away," said Wulistilahwati, Ardi's wife, recalling her last meeting with her husband.
Until the night, Ardi did not return home. His wife and family became anxious. Going by motorcycle, Uki cruised around Merauke searching for Ardi. At about 7.30pm, Denny, Uki's friend, saw the motorcycle used by Ardi. It was parked at the side of the bridge of Tujuh Wali-wali, 100 meters from Kuprik, Semangga district, on the outskirts of Merauke. His helmet was on the sidewalk. The sandals worn by Ardi were five meters from the motorbike, which was neatly placed against an iron frame of the bridge.
Ardi had disappeared. His body had drifted with the flow of Maro River as far as 20 kilometers from Tujuh Wali-wali bridge, where his motorcycle was found.
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ARDI had worked with various media. In mid-2008, he joined the Papua Fokus tabloid. After several months in Papua, he became a freelance reporter for ANTV. He moved again to the Foja magazine and Top TV Papua. Around March 2009 he shifted again to the Jubi weekly tabloid, before further worked as a Merauke TV reporter.
To his friends, Ardi admitted he had been terrorised after recording the floods in Arso, Jayapura regency, at the end of January last year. The flash floods swept away timber from illegal logging. This coverage was reported on Jubi TV for 3 minutes and 3 seconds.
According to Dedek, Ardi's fellow journalist, after that coverage, Ardi claimed he was frequently stalked by a man.
"He complained about SMS and phone terror."
Dedek said Ardi never revealed who was threatening him. He only said the man intimidating him did not like Ardi as a journalist. Several times Ardi showed a threatening short message to Dedek. It read, "Please, Mas (brother), be a bit NKRI," said Dedek, recalling the SMS. As Dedek interpreted, the intimidator asked Ardi not to report news focusing on Papuan issues.
Ardi also disclosed the threats to his peers in the office. According to an editorial staff of the Jubi tabloid, Jerry Omona, Ardi had once conveyed the threats at an editorial meeting.
"I'm being terrorised for bigger interests. I know, I'll be dead," said Jerry, in the words of Ardi. Dedek noted. Ardi had also spoken of his annoyance at his editorial colleague
he suspected of being an undercover agent. "He said the man was sent by the State Intelligence Agency," added Dedek.
Now, a month after Ardi's funeral, the motive and perpetrator of the murder remain obscure. The police claim it is difficult to investigate the threats as Ardi's cellphone was lost. But AJI
cannot accept this excuse. The journalist organisation urges that the police immediately unveil the murder case.
Also, Ridwan Salamun, a journalist of Sun TV, died on Saturday two weeks ago as he covered the rioting in Tual, Southeast Maluku. He was caught in the clash between residents of Banda Ely and Tigitan villagers. Ridwan died with slash wounds to his head and back.
The Maluku Regional Police moved fast in examining the case. The police named Ibrahim Raharusun as a suspect in Ridwan's killing. Fourteen witnesses involved in the conflict were also questioned. According to Viktor, the Papua Regional Police should have replicated the alertness of their Maluku
counterparts in uncovering the Ardi case. - Tempo Magazine/JoyoNews/Pacific Media Watch
Pacific Media Watch
