Banjir Ambarita, a Jayapura-based contributor to the Jakarta Globe, was stabbed on March 3 — the same day he had written about a high-profile case of police abuse. Here he recounts the events of that night.
OPINION: JAYAPURA: For me, even a simple mundane act such as riding a motorcycle can still be a nightmare.
When I ride a motorcycle, the feeling that I am being followed continues to haunt me. At home, if I hear a sudden noise, I always panic, fearing that someone is looking for me
I, Banjir Ambarita, known to my friends as Bram, was the victim of a stabbing assault in the early hours of March 3.
I may have physically recovered, but the mental scars remain. I am still traumatised.
Now 35 years old, I have worked for several years as a freelance journalist, contributing to media in Papua and elsewhere, including the Jakarta Globe.
On the night of my attack, I was heading home after spending the day writing about a case of sexual abuse by officers from the Jayapura police, a protest by nurses working at a state hospital in the city. Later that day I had attended a friend’s father’s wake.
I am certain that my assault had something to do with my reports, because for decades I have passed through the same areas without incident.
Policemen exposed
I had just exposed a case of three Jayapura policemen who had forced a female detainee to perform oral sex on them over a three-month period.
After waiting at an internet cafe for heavy rain to stop, I finally left for home in the early hours of March 3. I was accompanied by a fellow journalist, Folmer Sihombing, who works for Media Indonesia.
We were both riding our own motorcycles and eventually parted ways at the Papua Trade Center intersection.
Continuing on the dark, deserted road, I suddenly became aware of the sound of a roaring motorcycle, like one that was just speeding up in a race.
I moved to the side of the road, where I continued at a moderate speed, as the road was still wet and slippery after the rain.
But instead of passing me at full speed as the sound had suggested, the motorcycle, with two men on it, slowed down and drove alongside me.
Initially I thought nothing of it, but as we passed the bridge in front of the South Jayapura district office, the passenger on the other motorcycle without warning leaned over and stabbed me in the abdomen.
I was caught by surprise and even had time to look at my assailant and ask him what he was doing. But the man stayed silent and stabbed me twice in the chest.
I remember the motorcycle driver was looking away from me, as if trying to avoid looking at me.
Full description
When detectives from the Jayapura police questioned me on Friday, I gave them a description of the assailant. I clearly remember his sharp eyes and slicked-back straight black hair; he was dark-skinned, thin and was not very tall.
My immediate reaction to the attack was to increase speed. I tried to put as much distance as possible between me and the other motorcycle, shouting wildly, “Help, I’ve been stabbed, I’ve been stabbed.”
A man standing in front of the South Jayapura district office asked me what was happening, but I didn’t stop, I was too busy trying to escape.
I was determined to find a busy place so that any more attacks on me could be witnessed by other people.
I passed the South Jayapura Police station but did not stop because of fear, having just unravelled the sexual abuse case. Instead I headed straight to the office of Papua Pos, a newspaper to which I also contribute articles.
The office was empty at that time of night but two workers who were busy folding newspapers took me, on foot, to the South Jayapura police station that I had passed just a few minutes earlier.
At my request, a policeman took me to the hospital. He wanted to take me to the DOK II General Hospital for an official examination to log my injuries, but I told him that what I wanted was to immediately stop the bleeding.
I knew that DOK II Hospital had been plagued by strikes, which I had also written about, so he took me to the Marthen Indey Hospital instead. - The Jakarta Globe/Pacific Media Watch
Pacific Media Watch
